diff --git a/core/server/config/url.js b/core/server/config/url.js
index 88ee9e0481..928aeeb237 100644
--- a/core/server/config/url.js
+++ b/core/server/config/url.js
@@ -32,7 +32,6 @@ function setConfig(config) {
 function createUrl(urlPath, absolute, secure) {
     urlPath = urlPath || '/';
     absolute = absolute || false;
-
     var output = '', baseUrl;
 
     // create base of url, always ends without a slash
@@ -103,7 +102,7 @@ function urlPathForPost(post, permalinks) {
 function urlFor(context, data, absolute) {
     var urlPath = '/',
         secure, imagePathRe,
-        knownObjects = ['post', 'tag', 'author', 'image'],
+        knownObjects = ['post', 'tag', 'author', 'image'], baseUrl,
 
     // this will become really big
     knownPaths = {
@@ -140,8 +139,15 @@ function urlFor(context, data, absolute) {
             absolute = imagePathRe.test(data.image) ? absolute : false;
             secure = data.image.secure;
 
-            // Remove the sub-directory from the URL because createUrl() will add it back.
-            urlPath = urlPath.replace(new RegExp('^' + ghostConfig.paths.subdir), '');
+            if (absolute) {
+                // Remove the sub-directory from the URL because ghostConfig will add it back.
+                urlPath = urlPath.replace(new RegExp('^' + ghostConfig.paths.subdir), '');
+                baseUrl = (secure && ghostConfig.urlSSL) ? ghostConfig.urlSSL : ghostConfig.url;
+                baseUrl = baseUrl.replace(/\/$/, '');
+                urlPath = baseUrl + urlPath;
+            }
+
+            return urlPath;
         }
         // other objects are recognised but not yet supported
     } else if (_.isString(context) && _.indexOf(_.keys(knownPaths), context) !== -1) {
diff --git a/core/test/unit/server_helpers/image_spec.js b/core/test/unit/server_helpers/image_spec.js
index 8b1d8aabbb..f1cdbf7086 100644
--- a/core/test/unit/server_helpers/image_spec.js
+++ b/core/test/unit/server_helpers/image_spec.js
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ describe('{{image}} helper', function () {
         helpers.image.call({
             image: '/content/images/image-relative-url.png',
             author: {
-                image: '/content/images/author-image-relatve-url.png'
+                image: '/content/images/author-image-relative-url.png'
             }
         }).then(function (rendered) {
             should.exist(rendered);
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ describe('{{image}} helper', function () {
 
     it('should output absolute url of image if the option is present ', function (done) {
         helpers.image.call({image: '/content/images/image-relative-url.png',
-        author: {image: '/content/images/author-image-relatve-url.png'}},
+        author: {image: '/content/images/author-image-relative-url.png'}},
         {hash: {absolute: 'true'}}).then(function (rendered) {
             should.exist(rendered);
             rendered.should.equal('http://testurl.com/content/images/image-relative-url.png');
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ describe('{{image}} helper when Ghost is running on a sub-directory', function (
         helpers.image.call({
             image: '/blog/content/images/image-relative-url.png',
             author: {
-                image: '/blog/content/images/author-image-relatve-url.png'
+                image: '/blog/content/images/author-image-relative-url.png'
             }
         }).then(function (rendered) {
             should.exist(rendered);
@@ -107,4 +107,17 @@ describe('{{image}} helper when Ghost is running on a sub-directory', function (
             done();
         }).catch(done);
     });
+
+    it('should not change output for an external url', function (done) {
+        helpers.image.call({
+            image: 'http://example.com/picture.jpg',
+            author: {
+                image: '/blog/content/images/author-image-relative-url.png'
+            }
+        }).then(function (rendered) {
+            should.exist(rendered);
+            rendered.should.equal('http://example.com/picture.jpg');
+            done();
+        }).catch(done);
+    });
 });