diff --git a/src/zona/config.py b/src/zona/config.py
index 90b1488..9237637 100644
--- a/src/zona/config.py
+++ b/src/zona/config.py
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ class ZonaConfig:
     # list of globs relative to content that should be ignored
     ignore: list[str] = field(default_factory=lambda: IGNORELIST)
     markdown: MarkdownConfig = field(default_factory=MarkdownConfig)
-    build: BuildConfig = field(default_factory=BuildConfig)
+    # build: BuildConfig = field(default_factory=BuildConfig)
     blog: BlogConfig = field(default_factory=BlogConfig)
 
     @classmethod
diff --git a/src/zona/markdown.py b/src/zona/markdown.py
index 94c2015..d2cf4e5 100644
--- a/src/zona/markdown.py
+++ b/src/zona/markdown.py
@@ -72,6 +72,9 @@ class ZonaRenderer(HTMLRenderer):
     # TODO: image compression/dithering?
     @override
     def render_image(self, element: Image):
+        assert self.config
+        if not self.config.markdown.image_labels:
+            return super().render_image(element)
         # get label text from children
         text = self.render_children(element)
         title = element.title or ""