diff --git a/playground/app/pages/placeholder-regression.vue b/playground/app/pages/placeholder-regression.vue
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..786419653
--- /dev/null
+++ b/playground/app/pages/placeholder-regression.vue
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+<template>
+  <div>
+    <nuxt-img
+      src="/images/colors.jpg"
+      placeholder
+      width="500"
+      height="500"
+    />
+  </div>
+</template>
diff --git a/playground/app/providers.ts b/playground/app/providers.ts
index 0eee2db34..663604c3a 100644
--- a/playground/app/providers.ts
+++ b/playground/app/providers.ts
@@ -221,6 +221,7 @@ export const providers: Provider[] = [
         width: 500,
         height: 500,
         fit: 'contain',
+        placeholder: true,
       },
       {
         src: 'boat.jpg',
diff --git a/src/runtime/components/NuxtImg.vue b/src/runtime/components/NuxtImg.vue
index 875d1216e..d8cb8e7a0 100644
--- a/src/runtime/components/NuxtImg.vue
+++ b/src/runtime/components/NuxtImg.vue
@@ -22,9 +22,9 @@ import type { ImgHTMLAttributes } from 'vue'
 
 import { useImage } from '../composables'
 import { prerenderStaticImages } from '../utils/prerender'
-import { markFeatureUsage } from '../utils/performance'
 import { useImageProps } from '../utils/props'
 import type { BaseImageProps } from '../utils/props'
+import { markFeatureUsage } from '../utils/performance'
 import type { ProviderDefaults, ConfiguredImageProviders } from '@nuxt/image'
 
 import { useHead, useNuxtApp, useRequestEvent } from '#imports'
@@ -57,15 +57,46 @@ const sizes = computed(() => $img.getSizes(props.src!, {
 const placeholderLoaded = ref(false)
 
 const attrs = useAttrs() as ImgHTMLAttributes
-const imgAttrs = computed(() => ({
-  ...normalizedAttrs.value,
-  'data-nuxt-img': '',
-  ...(!props.placeholder || placeholderLoaded.value)
-    ? { sizes: sizes.value.sizes, srcset: sizes.value.srcset }
-    : {},
-  ...import.meta.server ? { onerror: 'this.setAttribute(\'data-error\', 1)' } : {},
-  ...attrs,
-}))
+const imgAttrs = computed(() => {
+  const base: ImgHTMLAttributes = {
+    ...normalizedAttrs.value,
+    'data-nuxt-img': '',
+    ...!props.placeholder
+      ? { sizes: sizes.value.sizes, srcset: sizes.value.srcset }
+      : {},
+    ...import.meta.server ? { onerror: 'this.setAttribute(\'data-error\', 1)' } : {},
+  }
+
+  if (props.placeholder) {
+    const chainHandlers = (a?: any, b?: any) =>
+      (a && b)
+        ? (...args: any[]) => {
+            a(...args)
+            b(...args)
+          }
+        : (a || b)
+
+    base.onLoad = chainHandlers(base.onLoad, (event: Event) => {
+      if (!placeholderLoaded.value) {
+        // Placeholder just loaded, trigger src update to mainSrc
+        placeholderLoaded.value = true
+      }
+      else {
+        // Main image loaded
+        emit('load', event)
+      }
+    })
+
+    base.onError = chainHandlers(base.onError, (event: Event) => {
+      emit('error', event)
+    })
+  }
+
+  return {
+    ...base,
+    ...attrs,
+  }
+})
 
 const placeholder = computed(() => {
   if (placeholderLoaded.value) {
@@ -130,31 +161,7 @@ if (import.meta.server && import.meta.prerender) {
 const initialLoad = useNuxtApp().isHydrating
 const imgEl = useTemplateRef('imgEl')
 onMounted(() => {
-  if (placeholder.value || props.custom) {
-    const img = new Image()
-
-    if (mainSrc.value) {
-      img.src = mainSrc.value
-    }
-
-    if (props.sizes) {
-      img.sizes = sizes.value.sizes || ''
-      img.srcset = sizes.value.srcset
-    }
-
-    img.onload = (event) => {
-      placeholderLoaded.value = true
-      emit('load', event)
-    }
-
-    img.onerror = (event) => {
-      emit('error', event)
-    }
-
-    markFeatureUsage('nuxt-image')
-
-    return
-  }
+  markFeatureUsage('nuxt-img')
 
   if (!imgEl.value) {
     return
@@ -164,17 +171,22 @@ onMounted(() => {
     if (imgEl.value.getAttribute('data-error')) {
       emit('error', new Event('error'))
     }
+    else if (props.placeholder && !placeholderLoaded.value) {
+      placeholderLoaded.value = true
+    }
     else {
       emit('load', new Event('load'))
     }
   }
 
-  imgEl.value.onload = (event) => {
-    emit('load', event)
-  }
+  if (!props.placeholder) {
+    imgEl.value.onload = (event) => {
+      emit('load', event)
+    }
 
-  imgEl.value.onerror = (event) => {
-    emit('error', event)
+    imgEl.value.onerror = (event) => {
+      emit('error', event)
+    }
   }
 })
 </script>
diff --git a/test/e2e/ssr.test.ts b/test/e2e/ssr.test.ts
index cab6c08de..d81b245fa 100644
--- a/test/e2e/ssr.test.ts
+++ b/test/e2e/ssr.test.ts
@@ -84,4 +84,28 @@ describe('browser (ssr: true)', () => {
       }
     `)
   })
+
+  it('should not load the main image twice when placeholder is enabled', async () => {
+    const page = await createPage()
+
+    const requests: string[] = []
+    await page.route('**', (route) => {
+      requests.push(route.request().url())
+      return route.continue()
+    })
+
+    await page.goto(url('/placeholder-regression'), { waitUntil: 'networkidle' })
+
+    await page.waitForSelector('img')
+
+    const mainImageRequests = requests.filter(r =>
+      r.includes('/_ipx/')
+      && r.includes('images/colors.jpg')
+      && r.includes('s_500x500'),
+    )
+
+    expect(mainImageRequests.length).toBe(1)
+
+    await page.close()
+  })
 })