diff --git a/.changeset/giant-spies-type.md b/.changeset/giant-spies-type.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..97018591a63f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/giant-spies-type.md
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+"@astrojs/markdoc": patch
+"astro": patch
+---
+
+Fixes original images sometimes being kept / deleted when they shouldn't in both MDX and Markdoc
diff --git a/packages/astro/package.json b/packages/astro/package.json
index 731033eeb384..36a0483cf54e 100644
--- a/packages/astro/package.json
+++ b/packages/astro/package.json
@@ -108,6 +108,7 @@
     "dev": "astro-scripts dev --copy-wasm --prebuild \"src/runtime/server/astro-island.ts\" --prebuild \"src/runtime/client/{idle,load,media,only,visible}.ts\" \"src/**/*.{ts,js}\"",
     "postbuild": "astro-scripts copy \"src/**/*.astro\" && astro-scripts copy \"src/**/*.wasm\"",
     "test": "pnpm run test:node",
+    "test:match": "pnpm run test:node --match",
     "test:e2e": "playwright test",
     "test:e2e:match": "playwright test -g",
     "test:node": "astro-scripts test \"test/**/*.test.js\""
diff --git a/packages/astro/src/assets/build/generate.ts b/packages/astro/src/assets/build/generate.ts
index 1c73c1592cd8..496dc1e6e4a7 100644
--- a/packages/astro/src/assets/build/generate.ts
+++ b/packages/astro/src/assets/build/generate.ts
@@ -119,7 +119,13 @@ export async function generateImagesForPath(
 		!globalThis.astroAsset.referencedImages?.has(transformsAndPath.originalSrcPath)
 	) {
 		try {
-			await fs.promises.unlink(getFullImagePath(originalFilePath, env));
+			if (transformsAndPath.originalSrcPath) {
+				env.logger.debug(
+					'assets',
+					`Deleting ${originalFilePath} as it's not referenced outside of image processing.`
+				);
+				await fs.promises.unlink(getFullImagePath(originalFilePath, env));
+			}
 		} catch (e) {
 			/* No-op, it's okay if we fail to delete one of the file, we're not too picky. */
 		}
diff --git a/packages/astro/src/assets/utils/proxy.ts b/packages/astro/src/assets/utils/proxy.ts
index 2b4389e4d142..e5c7ce7a094d 100644
--- a/packages/astro/src/assets/utils/proxy.ts
+++ b/packages/astro/src/assets/utils/proxy.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,11 @@ export function getProxyCode(options: ImageMetadata, isSSR: boolean): string {
 							if (name === 'fsPath') {
 								return ${stringifiedFSPath};
 							}
-							${!isSSR ? `globalThis.astroAsset.referencedImages.add(${stringifiedFSPath});` : ''}
+							${
+								!isSSR
+									? `if (target[name] !== undefined) globalThis.astroAsset.referencedImages.add(${stringifiedFSPath});`
+									: ''
+							}
 							return target[name];
 						}
 					})
diff --git a/packages/astro/src/core/logger/core.ts b/packages/astro/src/core/logger/core.ts
index 3f9c9f4177b5..45ab41ec92ce 100644
--- a/packages/astro/src/core/logger/core.ts
+++ b/packages/astro/src/core/logger/core.ts
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ export type LoggerLabel =
 	| 'preferences'
 	| 'redirects'
 	| 'toolbar'
+	| 'assets'
 	// SKIP_FORMAT: A special label that tells the logger not to apply any formatting.
 	// Useful for messages that are already formatted, like the server start message.
 	| 'SKIP_FORMAT';
diff --git a/packages/astro/test/fixtures/core-image-deletion/astro.config.mjs b/packages/astro/test/fixtures/core-image-deletion/astro.config.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..e39cf9fc68fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/astro/test/fixtures/core-image-deletion/astro.config.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+import mdx from '@astrojs/mdx';
+import markdoc from '@astrojs/markdoc';
+import { defineConfig } from 'astro/config';
+
+export default defineConfig({
+  integrations: [mdx(), markdoc()],
+});
diff --git a/packages/astro/test/fixtures/core-image-deletion/package.json b/packages/astro/test/fixtures/core-image-deletion/package.json
index 40a2ee1a64b1..e55fc847dce8 100644
--- a/packages/astro/test/fixtures/core-image-deletion/package.json
+++ b/packages/astro/test/fixtures/core-image-deletion/package.json
@@ -3,7 +3,9 @@
   "version": "0.0.0",
   "private": true,
   "dependencies": {
-    "astro": "workspace:*"
+    "astro": "workspace:*",
+    "@astrojs/mdx": "workspace:*",
+    "@astrojs/markdoc": "workspace:*"
   },
   "scripts": {
     "dev": "astro dev"
diff --git a/packages/astro/test/fixtures/core-image-deletion/src/assets/markdocStillExists.jpg b/packages/astro/test/fixtures/core-image-deletion/src/assets/markdocStillExists.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..8e38327233fc
Binary files /dev/null and b/packages/astro/test/fixtures/core-image-deletion/src/assets/markdocStillExists.jpg differ
diff --git a/packages/astro/test/fixtures/core-image-deletion/src/assets/mdxDontExist.jpg b/packages/astro/test/fixtures/core-image-deletion/src/assets/mdxDontExist.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..8c5ba062c2f0
Binary files /dev/null and b/packages/astro/test/fixtures/core-image-deletion/src/assets/mdxDontExist.jpg differ
diff --git a/packages/astro/test/fixtures/core-image-deletion/src/content/blog/markdoc.mdoc b/packages/astro/test/fixtures/core-image-deletion/src/content/blog/markdoc.mdoc
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..41119a9e7a53
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/astro/test/fixtures/core-image-deletion/src/content/blog/markdoc.mdoc
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+title: "Markdoc"
+---
+
+There is an image below
+
+![A penguin](../../assets/markdocStillExists.jpg)
diff --git a/packages/astro/test/fixtures/core-image-deletion/src/content/blog/mdx.mdx b/packages/astro/test/fixtures/core-image-deletion/src/content/blog/mdx.mdx
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..3de8bda4ffe6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/astro/test/fixtures/core-image-deletion/src/content/blog/mdx.mdx
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+title: "MDX"
+---
+
+There is an image below
+
+![A penguin](../../assets/mdxDontExist.jpg)
diff --git a/packages/astro/test/fixtures/core-image-deletion/src/content/config.ts b/packages/astro/test/fixtures/core-image-deletion/src/content/config.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..1c0eae662372
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/astro/test/fixtures/core-image-deletion/src/content/config.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+import { defineCollection, z } from 'astro:content';
+
+const blog = defineCollection({
+  type: 'content',
+  schema: z.object({
+    title: z.string(),
+  })
+});
+
+export const collections = {
+	blog: blog,
+};
diff --git a/packages/astro/test/fixtures/core-image-deletion/src/pages/blog/[slug].astro b/packages/astro/test/fixtures/core-image-deletion/src/pages/blog/[slug].astro
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..418d449bb64c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/astro/test/fixtures/core-image-deletion/src/pages/blog/[slug].astro
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+---
+import type { GetStaticPaths } from "astro";
+import { getCollection } from "astro:content";
+
+export const getStaticPaths = (async () => {
+	const blog = await getCollection("blog");
+	return blog.map((post) => ({
+		params: {
+			slug: post.slug,
+		},
+		props: {
+			post
+		}
+	}));
+}) satisfies GetStaticPaths;
+
+const { post } = Astro.props;
+
+const { Content } = await post.render();
+---
+
+<Content />
diff --git a/packages/astro/test/image-deletion.test.js b/packages/astro/test/image-deletion.test.js
index 4283e8c06f3b..cb4b464bf6aa 100644
--- a/packages/astro/test/image-deletion.test.js
+++ b/packages/astro/test/image-deletion.test.js
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import { before, describe, it } from 'node:test';
 import { testImageService } from './test-image-service.js';
 import { loadFixture } from './test-utils.js';
 
-describe('astro:assets - delete images that are unused', () => {
+describe('astro:assets - delete images that are unused zzz', () => {
 	/** @type {import('./test-utils.js').Fixture} */
 	let fixture;
 
@@ -33,5 +33,15 @@ describe('astro:assets - delete images that are unused', () => {
 			const imagesUsedElsewhere = await fixture.glob('_astro/url.*.*');
 			assert.equal(imagesUsedElsewhere.length, 2);
 		});
+
+		it('should delete MDX images only used for optimization', async () => {
+			const imagesOnlyOptimized = await fixture.glob('_astro/mdxDontExist.*.*');
+			assert.equal(imagesOnlyOptimized.length, 1);
+		});
+
+		it('should always keep Markdoc images', async () => {
+			const imagesUsedElsewhere = await fixture.glob('_astro/markdocStillExists.*.*');
+			assert.equal(imagesUsedElsewhere.length, 2);
+		});
 	});
 });
diff --git a/packages/integrations/markdoc/src/content-entry-type.ts b/packages/integrations/markdoc/src/content-entry-type.ts
index fe15d03b01ea..89f9f9e8687b 100644
--- a/packages/integrations/markdoc/src/content-entry-type.ts
+++ b/packages/integrations/markdoc/src/content-entry-type.ts
@@ -196,7 +196,19 @@ async function emitOptimizedImages(
 						ctx.pluginContext.meta.watchMode,
 						ctx.pluginContext.emitFile
 					);
-					node.attributes[attributeName] = src;
+
+					const fsPath = resolved.id;
+
+					if (src) {
+						// We cannot track images in Markdoc, Markdoc rendering always strips out the proxy. As such, we'll always
+						// assume that the image is referenced elsewhere, to be on safer side.
+						if (ctx.astroConfig.output === 'static') {
+							if (globalThis.astroAsset.referencedImages)
+								globalThis.astroAsset.referencedImages.add(fsPath);
+						}
+
+						node.attributes[attributeName] = { ...src, fsPath };
+					}
 				} else {
 					throw new MarkdocError({
 						message: `Could not resolve image ${JSON.stringify(
diff --git a/pnpm-lock.yaml b/pnpm-lock.yaml
index 9e35467d7405..62588e2fc44c 100644
--- a/pnpm-lock.yaml
+++ b/pnpm-lock.yaml
@@ -2516,6 +2516,12 @@ importers:
 
   packages/astro/test/fixtures/core-image-deletion:
     dependencies:
+      '@astrojs/markdoc':
+        specifier: workspace:*
+        version: link:../../../../integrations/markdoc
+      '@astrojs/mdx':
+        specifier: workspace:*
+        version: link:../../../../integrations/mdx
       astro:
         specifier: workspace:*
         version: link:../../..