diff --git a/lisp/ox-html.el b/lisp/ox-html.el
index 6a81be126..b4ec25786 100644
--- a/lisp/ox-html.el
+++ b/lisp/ox-html.el
@@ -3045,19 +3045,25 @@ INFO is a plist holding contextual information.  See
 			  "#"
 			  (org-publish-resolve-external-link option path t))))))
 	   (t raw-path)))
-	 ;; Extract attributes from parent's paragraph.  HACK: Only do
-	 ;; this for the first link in parent (inner image link for
-	 ;; inline images).  This is needed as long as attributes
-	 ;; cannot be set on a per link basis.
 	 (attributes-plist
-	  (let* ((parent (org-export-get-parent-element link))
-		 (link (let ((container (org-export-get-parent link)))
-			 (if (and (eq (org-element-type container) 'link)
-				  (org-html-inline-image-p link info))
-			     container
-			   link))))
-	    (and (eq (org-element-map parent 'link 'identity info t) link)
-		 (org-export-read-attribute :attr_html parent))))
+	  (org-combine-plists
+	   ;; Extract attributes from parent's paragraph.  HACK: Only
+	   ;; do this for the first link in parent (inner image link
+	   ;; for inline images).  This is needed as long as
+	   ;; attributes cannot be set on a per link basis.
+	   (let* ((parent (org-export-get-parent-element link))
+		  (link (let ((container (org-export-get-parent link)))
+			  (if (and (eq 'link (org-element-type container))
+				   (org-html-inline-image-p link info))
+			      container
+			    link))))
+	     (and (eq link (org-element-map parent 'link #'identity info t))
+		  (org-export-read-attribute :attr_html parent)))
+	   ;; Also add attributes from link itself.  Currently, those
+	   ;; need to be added programmatically before `org-html-link'
+	   ;; is invoked, for example, by backends building upon HTML
+	   ;; export.
+	   (org-export-read-attribute :attr_html link)))
 	 (attributes
 	  (let ((attr (org-html--make-attribute-string attributes-plist)))
 	    (if (org-string-nw-p attr) (concat " " attr) ""))))