diff --git a/features.api.php b/features.api.php
index 4fb810e7e173f811bc794b23b2bd2c79d9a68b78..66a025030630b9b1900915be45384dba205584de 100644
--- a/features.api.php
+++ b/features.api.php
@@ -40,6 +40,14 @@
  *   'base': Optional. An alternative base key to use when calling features
  *   hooks for this component. Can be used for features component types that
  *   are declared "dynamically" or are part of a family of components.
+ *
+ *   'alter_type': What type of alter hook this hook uses. 'normal' is called
+ *   after the main hook is called. 'inline' is embeded within the default hook
+ *   and may not be implemented by some default hooks.
+ *   'none' is no alter hook exists. Defaults to 'normal'
+ *
+ *   'alter_hook': What the name of the alter hook for this component is.
+ *    Do not include the '_alter' part. Defaults to 'default_hook'.
  */
 function hook_features_api() {
   return array(
diff --git a/features.export.inc b/features.export.inc
index 0f778ffc9bd25b80a9d6cc77b6ab5a66e167a133..5aec5df587ba8b6bd525f081795897be64faae33 100644
--- a/features.export.inc
+++ b/features.export.inc
@@ -354,6 +354,16 @@ function features_get_default_hooks($component = NULL, $reset = FALSE) {
   return features_get_components($component, 'default_hook', $reset);
 }
 
+/**
+ * Gets the available default hooks keyed by components.
+ */
+function features_get_default_alter_hook($component) {
+  $default_hook = features_get_components($component, 'default_hook');
+  $alter_hook = features_get_components($component, 'alter_hook');
+  $alter_type = features_get_components($component, 'alter_type');
+  return empty($alter_type) || $alter_type != 'none' ? ($alter_hook ? $alter_hook : $default_hook) : FALSE;
+}
+
 /**
  * Return a code string representing an implementation of a defaults module hook.
  */
@@ -655,8 +665,11 @@ function features_get_default($component, $module_name = NULL, $alter = TRUE, $r
       else {
         if ($default_hook && module_hook($m, $default_hook)) {
           $cache[$component][$m] = call_user_func("{$m}_{$default_hook}");
-          if ($alter) {
-            drupal_alter($default_hook, $cache[$component][$m]);
+          $alter_type = features_get_components('alter_type', $component);
+          if ($alter && (!isset($alter_type) || $alter_type == FEATURES_ALTER_TYPE_NORMAL)) {
+            if ($alter_hook = features_get_default_alter_hook($component)) {
+              drupal_alter($alter_hook, $cache[$component][$m]);
+            }
           }
         }
         else {
diff --git a/features.module b/features.module
index 9bcfea0d8b46745d748b83dd859e184a5507cefa..300241c0ce2e32a9e2ea2fb86e7bb8800c2f6f64 100644
--- a/features.module
+++ b/features.module
@@ -18,6 +18,9 @@ define('FEATURES_NEEDS_REVIEW', 2);
 define('FEATURES_REBUILDING', 3);
 define('FEATURES_CONFLICT', 4);
 define('FEATURES_DISABLED', 5);
+define('FEATURES_ALTER_TYPE_NORMAL', 'normal');
+define('FEATURES_ALTER_TYPE_INLINE', 'inline');
+define('FEATURES_ALTER_TYPE_NONE', 'none');
 
 // Duration of rebuild semaphore: 10 minutes.
 define('FEATURES_SEMAPHORE_TIMEOUT', 10 * 60);
diff --git a/includes/features.image.inc b/includes/features.image.inc
index 713a93a6af9a7e13361b8fd3d2aacb24a0c1e5d5..9eee8db9587d4576e4cca43187eb6ff9288065ae 100644
--- a/includes/features.image.inc
+++ b/includes/features.image.inc
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ function image_features_api() {
       'name' => t('Image styles'),
       'feature_source' => TRUE,
       'default_hook' => 'image_default_styles',
+      'alter_hook' => 'image_styles',
     )
   );
 }