An image forming apparatus includes an intermediate transfer belt, a photosensitive belt, a primary transfer roller, a secondary-transfer opposing roller, and a secondary transfer roller, The photosensitive belt comes into contact with a surface of the intermediate transfer belt to form a primary transfer nip. The secondary-transfer opposing roller comes into contact with the surface of the intermediate transfer roller to form a secondary transfer nip. The closest distance between a surface of the photosensitive belt and that of the primary transfer roller is greater than the thickness of the intermediate transfer belt. A toner image on the intermediate transfer belt is transferred onto a recording sheet at the secondary transfer nip while a transfer bias is applied to the secondary transfer roller.