diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 3785131..ce52d5d 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 **Web-based tmux session dashboard — access, monitor, and manage all your tmux sessions from any browser on any device.**
 
-![muxplex dashboard](assets/branding/og/og-dark.png)
+![muxplex dashboard](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/bkrabach/muxplex/main/assets/branding/og/og-dark.png)
 
 ---
 
diff --git a/muxplex/tests/test_readme.py b/muxplex/tests/test_readme.py
index 6aa8422..78b0799 100644
--- a/muxplex/tests/test_readme.py
+++ b/muxplex/tests/test_readme.py
@@ -261,3 +261,14 @@ def test_readme_tls_key_has_empty_default():
 def test_readme_tls_setup_tls_entry_with_method_flag():
     """README CLI Reference must show setup-tls with --method flag."""
     assert "--method" in README, "README must document the --method flag for setup-tls"
+
+
+def test_readme_images_use_absolute_urls():
+    import re
+    readme = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[2] / "README.md"
+    content = readme.read_text()
+    images = re.findall(r"!\[([^\]]*)\]\(([^)]+)\)", content)
+    for alt, url in images:
+        assert url.startswith("http"), (
+            f"Image '{alt}' uses relative path '{url}' — must use absolute URL for PyPI rendering"
+        )