diff --git a/lib/upload_creator.rb b/lib/upload_creator.rb
index d83af7461c9..f37e6750309 100644
--- a/lib/upload_creator.rb
+++ b/lib/upload_creator.rb
@@ -500,6 +500,7 @@ class UploadCreator
         if use_el.attr("href")
           use_el.remove_attribute("href") unless use_el.attr("href").starts_with?("#")
         end
+        use_el.remove_attribute("xlink:href")
       end
     File.write(@file.path, doc.to_s)
     @file.rewind
diff --git a/spec/lib/upload_creator_spec.rb b/spec/lib/upload_creator_spec.rb
index 7965a5f6dbb..cdc20d28603 100644
--- a/spec/lib/upload_creator_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/lib/upload_creator_spec.rb
@@ -613,7 +613,7 @@ RSpec.describe UploadCreator do
           <g>
             <use id="valid-use" x="123" href="#pathdef" />
           </g>
-          <use id="invalid-use1" href="https://svg.example.com/evil.svg" />
+          <use id="invalid-use1" xlink:href="https://svg.example.com/evil.svg" />
           <use id="invalid-use2" href="data:image/svg+xml;base64,#{b64}" />
         </svg>
       XML