diff --git a/layouts/partials/cover.html b/layouts/partials/cover.html
index 5ff16bc0..6f932f9e 100644
--- a/layouts/partials/cover.html
+++ b/layouts/partials/cover.html
@@ -11,19 +11,19 @@
         {{- $processableFormats := (slice "jpg" "jpeg" "png" "tif" "bmp" "gif") }}
         {{- $prod := (hugo.IsProduction | or (eq .Site.Params.env "production")) }}
         {{- if (and (in $processableFormats $cover.MediaType.SubType) (ne .Site.Params.cover.responsiveImages false) (eq $prod true)) }}
-        <img srcset="{{- range $size := $sizes -}}
+        <img loading="lazy" srcset="{{- range $size := $sizes -}}
                         {{- if (ge $cover.Width $size) -}}
                         {{ printf "%s %s" (($cover.Resize (printf "%sx" $size)).Permalink) (printf "%sw ," $size) -}}
                         {{ end }}
                     {{- end -}}{{$cover.Permalink }} {{printf "%dw" ($cover.Width)}}"
             sizes="(min-width: 768px) 720px, 100vw" src="{{ $cover.Permalink }}" alt="{{ $alt }}" />
         {{- else }}{{/* Unprocessable image or responsive images disabled */}}
-        <img src="{{ (path.Join .RelPermalink .Params.cover.image) | absURL }}" alt="{{ $alt }}">
+        <img loading="lazy" src="{{ (path.Join .RelPermalink .Params.cover.image) | absURL }}" alt="{{ $alt }}">
         {{- end }}
     {{- else }}{{/* For absolute urls and external links, no img processing here */}}
         {{- if $addLink }}<a href="{{ (.Params.cover.image) | absURL }}" target="_blank"
             rel="noopener noreferrer">{{ end -}}
-            <img src="{{ (.Params.cover.image) | absURL }}" alt="{{ $alt }}">
+            <img loading="lazy" src="{{ (.Params.cover.image) | absURL }}" alt="{{ $alt }}">
     {{- end }}
     {{- if $addLink }}</a>{{ end -}}
     {{/*  Display Caption  */}}