diff --git a/lib/github/commands/rest2html b/lib/github/commands/rest2html
index 0efea607..264dacb9 100755
--- a/lib/github/commands/rest2html
+++ b/lib/github/commands/rest2html
@@ -223,6 +223,11 @@ class GitHubHTMLTranslator(HTMLTranslator):
                     else:
                         atts[attribute] = value
 
+            # inside references, SVG images must not add a newline,
+            # the default suffix for starttag method
+            if node.parent.tagname == "reference":
+                atts["suffix"] = ""
+
             # toss off `object` tag
             self.body.pop()
             # add on `img` with attributes