diff --git src/wp-includes/widgets/class-wp-widget-media-image.php src/wp-includes/widgets/class-wp-widget-media-image.php
index e0dafd3733..8fbb952f9a 100644
--- src/wp-includes/widgets/class-wp-widget-media-image.php
+++ src/wp-includes/widgets/class-wp-widget-media-image.php
@@ -240,14 +240,20 @@ class WP_Widget_Media_Image extends WP_Widget_Media {
 		}
 
 		if ( $url ) {
-			$image = sprintf(
-				'<a href="%1$s" class="%2$s" rel="%3$s" target="%4$s">%5$s</a>',
-				esc_url( $url ),
-				esc_attr( $instance['link_classes'] ),
-				esc_attr( $instance['link_rel'] ),
-				! empty( $instance['link_target_blank'] ) ? '_blank' : '',
-				$image
-			);
+			$link = sprintf( '<a href="%s"', esc_url( $url ) );
+			if ( ! empty( $instance['link_classes'] ) ) {
+				$link .= sprintf( ' class="%s"', esc_attr( $instance['link_classes'] ) );
+			}
+			if ( ! empty( $instance['link_rel'] ) ) {
+				$link .= sprintf( ' rel="%s"', esc_attr( $instance['link_rel'] ) );
+			}
+			if ( ! empty( $instance['link_target_blank'] ) ) {
+				$link .= ' target="_blank"';
+			}
+			$link .= '>';
+			$link .= $image;
+			$link .= '</a>';
+			$image = $link;
 		}
 
 		if ( $caption ) {
diff --git tests/phpunit/tests/widgets/media-image-widget.php tests/phpunit/tests/widgets/media-image-widget.php
index 7fadbbc7d3..408123bef7 100644
--- tests/phpunit/tests/widgets/media-image-widget.php
+++ tests/phpunit/tests/widgets/media-image-widget.php
@@ -393,12 +393,10 @@ class Test_WP_Widget_Media_Image extends WP_UnitTestCase {
 
 		$link = '<a href="' . wp_get_attachment_url( $attachment_id ) . '"';
 		$this->assertContains( $link, $output );
-		$link .= ' class=""';
-		$this->assertContains( $link, $output );
-		$link .= ' rel=""';
-		$this->assertContains( $link, $output );
-		$link .= ' target=""';
-		$this->assertContains( $link, $output );
+		$this->assertTrue( (bool) preg_match( '#<a href.*?>#', $output, $matches ) );
+		$this->assertNotContains( ' class="', $matches[0] );
+		$this->assertNotContains( ' rel="', $matches[0] );
+		$this->assertNotContains( ' target="', $matches[0] );
 
 		ob_start();
 		$widget->render_media( array(
@@ -413,7 +411,7 @@ class Test_WP_Widget_Media_Image extends WP_UnitTestCase {
 		$this->assertContains( '<a href="' . get_attachment_link( $attachment_id ) . '"', $output );
 		$this->assertContains( 'class="custom-link-class"', $output );
 		$this->assertContains( 'rel="attachment"', $output );
-		$this->assertContains( 'target=""', $output );
+		$this->assertNotContains( 'target=""', $output );
 
 		ob_start();
 		$widget->render_media( array(