diff --git a/src/gui/guiFormSpecMenu.cpp b/src/gui/guiFormSpecMenu.cpp
index 1dbd2970e..615edbd75 100644
--- a/src/gui/guiFormSpecMenu.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/guiFormSpecMenu.cpp
@@ -862,11 +862,26 @@ void GUIFormSpecMenu::parseImage(parserData* data, const std::string &element)
 		if (parts.size() >= 4)
 			parseMiddleRect(parts[3], &middle);
 
-		GUIAnimatedImage *e = new GUIAnimatedImage(Environment, data->current_parent,
-			spec.fid, rect);
+		// Temporary fix for issue #12581 in 5.6.0.
+		// Use legacy image when not rendering 9-slice image because GUIAnimatedImage
+		// uses NNAA filter which causes visual artifacts when image uses alpha blending.
 
-		e->setTexture(texture);
-		e->setMiddleRect(middle);
+		gui::IGUIElement *e;
+		if (middle.getArea() > 0) {
+			GUIAnimatedImage *image = new GUIAnimatedImage(Environment, data->current_parent,
+				spec.fid, rect);
+
+			image->setTexture(texture);
+			image->setMiddleRect(middle);
+			e = image;
+		}
+		else {
+			gui::IGUIImage *image = Environment->addImage(rect, data->current_parent, spec.fid, nullptr, true);
+			image->setImage(texture);
+			image->setScaleImage(true);
+			image->grab(); // compensate for drop in addImage
+			e = image;
+		}
 
 		auto style = getDefaultStyleForElement("image", spec.fname);
 		e->setNotClipped(style.getBool(StyleSpec::NOCLIP, m_formspec_version < 3));