diff --git a/lua/snacks/image/buf.lua b/lua/snacks/image/buf.lua
index 1aa62083..3f566b25 100644
--- a/lua/snacks/image/buf.lua
+++ b/lua/snacks/image/buf.lua
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@ local M = {}
 ---@param opts? snacks.image.Opts|{src?: string}
 function M._attach(buf, opts)
   Snacks.image.placement.clean(buf)
+  if not vim.api.nvim_buf_is_valid(buf) then
+    return
+  end
   opts = opts or {}
   local file = opts.src or vim.api.nvim_buf_get_name(buf)
   if not Snacks.image.supports(file) then