diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index d4fc3acf..10cc5ebd 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/).
 - Properly configure a default IPMI template during `wwctl upgrade nodes --add-defaults`.
 - Fixed display of dotted field names. #1825
 - Add single quote around escapechar in ipmitool template #1830
+- Update nodes and profiles when renaming an image. #1637
 
 ### Changed
 
diff --git a/internal/app/wwctl/image/rename/main_test.go b/internal/app/wwctl/image/rename/main_test.go
index fe6ce724..b1e4a5cd 100644
--- a/internal/app/wwctl/image/rename/main_test.go
+++ b/internal/app/wwctl/image/rename/main_test.go
@@ -16,6 +16,13 @@ import (
 func Test_Rename(t *testing.T) {
 	env := testenv.New(t)
 	env.WriteFile(path.Join(testenv.WWChrootdir, "test-image/rootfs/file"), `test`)
+	env.WriteFile("etc/warewulf/nodes.conf", `
+nodeprofiles:
+  default:
+    image name: test-image
+nodes:
+  n1:
+    image name: test-image`)
 	defer env.RemoveAll()
 	warewulfd.SetNoDaemon()
 
@@ -38,6 +45,14 @@ func Test_Rename(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Run("Image list", func(t *testing.T) {
 		verifyImageListOutput(t, "test-image-rename")
 	})
+
+	assert.YAMLEq(t, `
+nodeprofiles:
+  default:
+    image name: test-image-rename
+nodes:
+  n1:
+    image name: test-image-rename`, env.ReadFile("etc/warewulf/nodes.conf"))
 }
 
 func verifyImageListOutput(t *testing.T, content string) {
diff --git a/internal/pkg/api/image/image.go b/internal/pkg/api/image/image.go
index be9995a0..674210f3 100644
--- a/internal/pkg/api/image/image.go
+++ b/internal/pkg/api/image/image.go
@@ -90,18 +90,19 @@ func ImageDelete(cdp *wwapiv1.ImageDeleteParameter) (err error) {
 		return fmt.Errorf("could not open nodeDB: %s", err)
 	}
 
-	nodes, err := nodeDB.FindAllNodes()
-	if err != nil {
-		return
-	}
-
 ARG_LOOP:
 	for i := 0; i < len(cdp.ImageNames); i++ {
 		//_, arg := range args {
 		imageName := cdp.ImageNames[i]
-		for _, n := range nodes {
+		for _, n := range nodeDB.Nodes {
 			if n.ImageName == imageName {
-				wwlog.Error("image is configured for nodes, skipping: %s", imageName)
+				wwlog.Error("image %s is in use by node %s, skipping", imageName, n.Id())
+				continue ARG_LOOP
+			}
+		}
+		for _, p := range nodeDB.NodeProfiles {
+			if p.ImageName == imageName {
+				wwlog.Error("image %s is in use by profile %s, skipping", imageName, p.Id())
 				continue ARG_LOOP
 			}
 		}
@@ -355,23 +356,17 @@ func ImageRename(crp *wwapiv1.ImageRenameParameter) (err error) {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	nodes, err := nodeDB.FindAllNodes()
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	for _, node := range nodes {
+	for nodeId, node := range nodeDB.Nodes {
 		if node.ImageName == crp.ImageName {
-			node.ImageName = crp.TargetName
+			wwlog.Debug("updating node %s image to %s", nodeId, crp.TargetName)
+			nodeDB.Nodes[nodeId].ImageName = crp.TargetName
 		}
 	}
 
-	profiles, err := nodeDB.FindAllProfiles()
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	for _, profile := range profiles {
+	for profileId, profile := range nodeDB.NodeProfiles {
 		if profile.ImageName == crp.ImageName {
-			profile.ImageName = crp.TargetName
+			wwlog.Debug("updating profile %s image to %s", profileId, crp.TargetName)
+			nodeDB.NodeProfiles[profileId].ImageName = crp.TargetName
 		}
 	}