diff --git a/core/modules/image/image.field.inc b/core/modules/image/image.field.inc
index 2e9918932fa0f780ea7aebc3d838fd31aa45efbb..7a38df4aff70bfca97bf55c2692e1b730a450361 100644
--- a/core/modules/image/image.field.inc
+++ b/core/modules/image/image.field.inc
@@ -403,7 +403,8 @@ function image_field_widget_process($element, &$form_state, $form) {
     '#type' => 'textfield',
     '#default_value' => isset($item['alt']) ? $item['alt'] : '',
     '#description' => t('This text will be used by screen readers, search engines, or when the image cannot be loaded.'),
-    '#maxlength' => variable_get('image_alt_length', 80), // See http://www.gawds.org/show.php?contentid=28.
+    // @see http://www.gawds.org/show.php?contentid=28
+    '#maxlength' => 128,
     '#weight' => -2,
     '#access' => (bool) $item['fid'] && $settings['alt_field'],
   );
@@ -412,7 +413,7 @@ function image_field_widget_process($element, &$form_state, $form) {
     '#title' => t('Title'),
     '#default_value' => isset($item['title']) ? $item['title'] : '',
     '#description' => t('The title is used as a tool tip when the user hovers the mouse over the image.'),
-    '#maxlength' => variable_get('image_title_length', 500),
+    '#maxlength' => 128,
     '#weight' => -1,
     '#access' => (bool) $item['fid'] && $settings['title_field'],
   );
diff --git a/core/modules/image/image.test b/core/modules/image/image.test
index 444c2ed2e10d00dfa104d86dcf9af302295ef3f8..6fa015e8aec6f73d10e77b01f8e8539fb9d0287e 100644
--- a/core/modules/image/image.test
+++ b/core/modules/image/image.test
@@ -786,6 +786,23 @@ class ImageFieldDisplayTestCase extends ImageFieldTestCase {
     $this->drupalPost('node/' . $nid . '/edit', $edit, t('Save'));
     $default_output = theme('image', $image_info);
     $this->assertRaw($default_output, t('Image displayed using user supplied alt and title attributes.'));
+
+    // Verify that alt/title longer than allowed results in a validation error.
+    $test_size = 2000;
+    $max_size = 128;
+    $edit = array(
+      $field_name . '[' . LANGUAGE_NONE . '][0][alt]' => $this->randomName($test_size),
+      $field_name . '[' . LANGUAGE_NONE . '][0][title]' => $this->randomName($test_size),
+    );
+    $this->drupalPost('node/' . $nid . '/edit', $edit, t('Save'));
+    $this->assertRaw(t('Alternate text cannot be longer than %max characters but is currently %length characters long.', array(
+      '%max' => $max_size,
+      '%length' => $test_size,
+    )));
+    $this->assertRaw(t('Title cannot be longer than %max characters but is currently %length characters long.', array(
+      '%max' => $max_size,
+      '%length' => $test_size,
+    )));
   }
 
   /**