diff --git a/lib/OpenLayers/Renderer/VML.js b/lib/OpenLayers/Renderer/VML.js
index 874365b351..287a29b7c3 100644
--- a/lib/OpenLayers/Renderer/VML.js
+++ b/lib/OpenLayers/Renderer/VML.js
@@ -296,7 +296,7 @@ OpenLayers.Renderer.VML = OpenLayers.Class(OpenLayers.Renderer.Elements, {
         // additional rendering for rotated graphics or symbols
         if (typeof style.rotation != "undefined") {
             if (style.externalGraphic) {
-                this.graphicRotate(node, xOffset, yOffset);
+                this.graphicRotate(node, xOffset, yOffset, style);
                 // make the fill fully transparent, because we now have
                 // the graphic as imagedata element. We cannot just remove
                 // the fill, because this is part of the hack described
@@ -354,8 +354,9 @@ OpenLayers.Renderer.VML = OpenLayers.Class(OpenLayers.Renderer.Elements, {
      * node    - {DOMElement}
      * xOffset - {Number} rotation center relative to image, x coordinate
      * yOffset - {Number} rotation center relative to image, y coordinate
+     * style   - {Object}
      */
-    graphicRotate: function(node, xOffset, yOffset) {
+    graphicRotate: function(node, xOffset, yOffset, style) {
         var style = style || node._style;
         var options = node._options;
         
@@ -373,7 +374,7 @@ OpenLayers.Renderer.VML = OpenLayers.Class(OpenLayers.Renderer.Elements, {
                     xOffset = xOffset * aspectRatio;
                     style.graphicWidth = size * aspectRatio;
                     style.graphicHeight = size;
-                    this.graphicRotate(node, xOffset, yOffset);
+                    this.graphicRotate(node, xOffset, yOffset, style);
                 }
             }, this);
             img.src = style.externalGraphic;