diff --git a/src/libs/ReportUtils.ts b/src/libs/ReportUtils.ts
index 1968423a864c..aaaf0a205b43 100644
--- a/src/libs/ReportUtils.ts
+++ b/src/libs/ReportUtils.ts
@@ -4049,7 +4049,8 @@ function getUploadingAttachmentHtml(file?: FileObject): string {
 
     // file.type is a known mime type like image/png, image/jpeg, video/mp4 etc.
     if (file.type?.startsWith('image')) {
-        return `<img src="${file.uri}" alt="${file.name}" ${dataAttributes} />`;
+        // optimistic image will have its preview disabled until we receive the (compressed if too big) image from the BE
+        return `<img src="${file.uri}" alt="${file.name}" ${dataAttributes} data-expensify-preview-modal-disabled="true" />`;
     }
     if (file.type?.startsWith('video')) {
         return `<video src="${file.uri}" ${dataAttributes}>${file.name}</video>`;