diff --git a/html2docx/image.py b/html2docx/image.py
index 145808d..a8465aa 100644
--- a/html2docx/image.py
+++ b/html2docx/image.py
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
+import base64
+import binascii
 import http
 import io
 import pathlib
 import time
 import urllib.error
 import urllib.request
-from typing import Dict, Optional
+from typing import Dict, Optional, cast
 
 from docx.image.exceptions import UnrecognizedImageError
 from docx.image.image import Image
@@ -17,11 +19,29 @@
 
 MAX_IMAGE_SIZE = 10 * 1024 * 1024  # 10 MiB
 
+RFC_2397_BASE64 = ";base64"
 
-def load_image(src: str) -> io.BytesIO:
+
+def make_image(data: Optional[bytes]) -> io.BytesIO:
     image_buffer = None
+    if data:
+        image_buffer = io.BytesIO(data)
+        try:
+            Image.from_blob(image_buffer.getbuffer())
+        except UnrecognizedImageError:
+            image_buffer = None
+
+    if not image_buffer:
+        broken_img_path = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent / "image-broken.png"
+        image_buffer = io.BytesIO(broken_img_path.read_bytes())
+
+    return image_buffer
+
+
+def load_external_image(src: str) -> Optional[bytes]:
+    data = None
     retry = 3
-    while retry and not image_buffer:
+    while retry and not data:
         try:
             with urllib.request.urlopen(src) as response:
                 size = response.getheader("Content-Length")
@@ -30,7 +50,7 @@ def load_image(src: str) -> io.BytesIO:
                 # Read up to MAX_IMAGE_SIZE when response does not contain
                 # the Content-Length header. The extra byte avoids an extra read to
                 # check whether the EOF was reached.
-                data = response.read(MAX_IMAGE_SIZE + 1)
+                data = cast(bytes, response.read(MAX_IMAGE_SIZE + 1))
         except (ValueError, http.client.HTTPException, urllib.error.HTTPError):
             # ValueError: Invalid URL or non-integer Content-Length.
             # HTTPException: Server does not speak HTTP properly.
@@ -43,19 +63,29 @@ def load_image(src: str) -> io.BytesIO:
                 time.sleep(1)
         else:
             if len(data) <= MAX_IMAGE_SIZE:
-                image_buffer = io.BytesIO(data)
+                return data
+    return None
+
 
-    if image_buffer:
+def load_inline_image(src: str) -> Optional[bytes]:
+    image_data = None
+    header_data = src.split(RFC_2397_BASE64 + ",", maxsplit=1)
+    if len(header_data) == 2:
+        data = header_data[1]
         try:
-            Image.from_blob(image_buffer.getbuffer())
-        except UnrecognizedImageError:
-            image_buffer = None
+            image_data = base64.b64decode(data, validate=True)
+        except (binascii.Error, ValueError):
+            # binascii.Error: Character outside of base64 set.
+            # ValueError: Character outside of ASCII.
+            pass
+    return image_data
 
-    if not image_buffer:
-        broken_img_path = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent / "image-broken.png"
-        image_buffer = io.BytesIO(broken_img_path.read_bytes())
 
-    return image_buffer
+def load_image(src: str) -> io.BytesIO:
+    image_bytes = (
+        load_inline_image(src) if src.startswith("data:") else load_external_image(src)
+    )
+    return make_image(image_bytes)
 
 
 def image_size(
diff --git a/tests/test_image_size.py b/tests/test_image_size.py
index 54c9544..6f663fd 100644
--- a/tests/test_image_size.py
+++ b/tests/test_image_size.py
@@ -1,16 +1,13 @@
-from io import BytesIO
 from math import ceil
 
 from docx.shared import Inches
-from PIL import Image
 
 from html2docx.image import USABLE_HEIGHT, USABLE_WIDTH, image_size
 
-from .utils import PROJECT_DIR
+from .utils import DPI, PROJECT_DIR, generate_image
 
 broken_image = PROJECT_DIR / "html2docx" / "image-broken.png"
 broken_image_bytes = broken_image.read_bytes()
-DPI = 72
 
 
 def inches_to_px(inches: int, dpi: int = DPI) -> int:
@@ -21,13 +18,6 @@ def px_to_inches(px: int, dpi: int = DPI) -> int:
     return ceil(px * Inches(1) / dpi)
 
 
-def generate_image(width: int, height: int, dpi=(DPI, DPI)) -> BytesIO:
-    data = BytesIO()
-    with Image.new("L", (width, height)) as image:
-        image.save(data, format="png", dpi=dpi)
-    return data
-
-
 def test_one_px():
     image = generate_image(width=1, height=1)
     size = image_size(image, 1, 1)
diff --git a/tests/test_load_image.py b/tests/test_load_image.py
index 7212cab..8782c54 100644
--- a/tests/test_load_image.py
+++ b/tests/test_load_image.py
@@ -1,10 +1,11 @@
+import base64
 import urllib.error
 import urllib.request
 from unittest import mock
 
 from html2docx.image import load_image
 
-from .utils import PROJECT_DIR, TEST_DIR
+from .utils import PROJECT_DIR, TEST_DIR, generate_image
 
 broken_image = PROJECT_DIR / "html2docx" / "image-broken.png"
 broken_image_bytes = broken_image.read_bytes()
@@ -58,3 +59,47 @@ def test_bad_content_length(bad_content_length_server):
     image_data = load_image(bad_content_length_server.base_url)
     assert image_data.getbuffer() == broken_image_bytes
     assert bad_content_length_server.httpd.request_count == 1
+
+
+def test_inline_base64():
+    image = generate_image(width=1, height=1)
+    image_b64 = base64.b64encode(image.getbuffer()).decode()
+    src = f"data:image/png;base64,{image_b64}"
+    image_data = load_image(src)
+    assert image_data.getbuffer() == image.getbuffer()
+
+
+def test_inline_non_ascii():
+    src = "data:image/png;base64,🦝"
+    image_data = load_image(src)
+    assert image_data.getbuffer() == broken_image_bytes
+
+
+def test_inline_non_base64():
+    src = "data:image/png;base64,https://example.org/"
+    image_data = load_image(src)
+    assert image_data.getbuffer() == broken_image_bytes
+
+
+def test_inline_unknown_encoding():
+    src = "data:image/png;unknown,foobar"
+    image_data = load_image(src)
+    assert image_data.getbuffer() == broken_image_bytes
+
+
+def test_inline_base64_marker_in_data():
+    src = "data:text/plain,this is not ;base64, encoded."
+    image_data = load_image(src)
+    assert image_data.getbuffer() == broken_image_bytes
+
+
+def test_inline_missing_comma():
+    src = "data:image/png;base64https://example.org/"
+    image_data = load_image(src)
+    assert image_data.getbuffer() == broken_image_bytes
+
+
+def test_unknown_scheme():
+    src = ""
+    image_data = load_image(src)
+    assert image_data.getbuffer() == broken_image_bytes
diff --git a/tests/utils.py b/tests/utils.py
index 916f68e..13b9df8 100644
--- a/tests/utils.py
+++ b/tests/utils.py
@@ -1,4 +1,15 @@
 import pathlib
+from io import BytesIO
+
+from PIL import Image
 
 TEST_DIR = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent.resolve(strict=True)
 PROJECT_DIR = TEST_DIR.parent
+DPI = 72
+
+
+def generate_image(width: int, height: int, dpi=(DPI, DPI)) -> BytesIO:
+    data = BytesIO()
+    with Image.new("L", (width, height)) as image:
+        image.save(data, format="png", dpi=dpi)
+    return data