diff --git a/collects/2htdp/tests/test-image.ss b/collects/2htdp/tests/test-image.ss
index f18b6e67d2..3554b60c5c 100644
--- a/collects/2htdp/tests/test-image.ss
+++ b/collects/2htdp/tests/test-image.ss
@@ -972,4 +972,8 @@
                             #"\0\0\0\0" #"\377\0\0\0" #"\0\0\0\0" #"\0\0\0\0"
                             #"\0\0\0\0" #"\0\0\0\0"   #"\0\0\0\0" #"\0\0\0\0"
                             #"\0\0\0\0" #"\0\0\0\0"   #"\0\0\0\0" #"\0\0\0\0"))
-                            
\ No newline at end of file
+ 
+;; ensure no error
+(check-equal? (begin (scale 2 (make-object bitmap% 10 10))
+                     (void))
+              (void))
diff --git a/collects/mrlib/image-core.ss b/collects/mrlib/image-core.ss
index 875bc9a745..d216c6dfc3 100644
--- a/collects/mrlib/image-core.ss
+++ b/collects/mrlib/image-core.ss
@@ -629,18 +629,20 @@ the mask bitmap and the original bitmap are all together in a single bytes!
          [scale-w (ceiling (inexact->exact (* x-scale (send orig-bm get-width))))]
          [scale-h (ceiling (inexact->exact (* y-scale (send orig-bm get-height))))]
          [new-bm (make-object bitmap% scale-w scale-h)]
-         [new-mask (make-object bitmap% scale-w scale-h)])
-    (send new-bm set-loaded-mask new-mask)
+         [new-mask (and orig-mask (make-object bitmap% scale-w scale-h))])
+    (when new-mask
+      (send new-bm set-loaded-mask new-mask))
     
     (send bdc set-bitmap new-bm)
     (send bdc set-scale x-scale y-scale)
     (send bdc clear)
     (send bdc draw-bitmap orig-bm 0 0)
 
-    (send bdc set-bitmap new-mask)
-    (send bdc set-scale x-scale y-scale)
-    (send bdc clear)
-    (send bdc draw-bitmap orig-mask 0 0)
+    (when new-mask
+      (send bdc set-bitmap new-mask)
+      (send bdc set-scale x-scale y-scale)
+      (send bdc clear)
+      (send bdc draw-bitmap orig-mask 0 0))
     
     (send bdc set-bitmap #f)