diff --git a/lib/cucumber/formatter/html.rb b/lib/cucumber/formatter/html.rb
index ef5d6b05e5..850e875e7a 100644
--- a/lib/cucumber/formatter/html.rb
+++ b/lib/cucumber/formatter/html.rb
@@ -28,6 +28,10 @@ def initialize(runtime, path_or_io, options)
       def embed(src, mime_type, label)
         case(mime_type)
         when /^image\/(png|gif|jpg|jpeg)/
+          unless File.file?(src) or src =~ /^data:image\/(png|gif|jpg|jpeg);base64,/
+            type = mime_type =~ /;base[0-9]+$/ ? mime_type : mime_type + ";base64"
+            src = "data:" + type + "," + src
+          end
           embed_image(src, label)
         end
       end
diff --git a/spec/cucumber/formatter/html_spec.rb b/spec/cucumber/formatter/html_spec.rb
index 15b7dfb2a8..0de8ebbd67 100644
--- a/spec/cucumber/formatter/html_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/cucumber/formatter/html_spec.rb
@@ -235,7 +235,10 @@ module Formatter
 
         describe "with a step that embeds a snapshot" do
           define_steps do
-            Given(/snap/) { embed('snapshot.jpeg', 'image/jpeg') }
+            Given(/snap/) { 
+              File.should_receive(:file?).with('snapshot.jpeg').and_return(true)
+              embed('snapshot.jpeg', 'image/jpeg')
+            }
           end
 
           define_feature(<<-FEATURE)
@@ -247,6 +250,34 @@ module Formatter
           it { @doc.css('.embed img').first.attributes['src'].to_s.should == "snapshot.jpeg" }
         end
 
+        describe "with a step that embeds a snapshot content manually" do
+          define_steps do
+            Given(/snap/) { embed('data:image/png;base64,YWJj', 'image/png') }
+          end
+
+          define_feature(<<-FEATURE)
+          Feature:
+            Scenario:
+              Given snap
+            FEATURE
+
+          it { @doc.css('.embed img').first.attributes['src'].to_s.should == "data:image/png;base64,YWJj" }
+        end
+
+        describe "with a step that embeds a snapshot content" do
+          define_steps do
+            Given(/snap/) { embed('YWJj', 'image/png;base64') }
+          end
+
+          define_feature(<<-FEATURE)
+          Feature:
+            Scenario:
+              Given snap
+            FEATURE
+
+          it { @doc.css('.embed img').first.attributes['src'].to_s.should == "data:image/png;base64,YWJj" }
+        end
+
         describe "with an undefined Given step then an undefined And step" do
           define_feature(<<-FEATURE)
           Feature: