diff --git a/packages/grafana-data/src/types/featureToggles.gen.ts b/packages/grafana-data/src/types/featureToggles.gen.ts
index 964ccbc97f6..0571e693109 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-data/src/types/featureToggles.gen.ts
+++ b/packages/grafana-data/src/types/featureToggles.gen.ts
@@ -41,7 +41,6 @@ export interface FeatureToggles {
   vizActions?: boolean;
   disableSecretsCompatibility?: boolean;
   logRequestsInstrumentedAsUnknown?: boolean;
-  topnav?: boolean;
   grpcServer?: boolean;
   cloudWatchCrossAccountQuerying?: boolean;
   showDashboardValidationWarnings?: boolean;
diff --git a/pkg/api/frontendsettings.go b/pkg/api/frontendsettings.go
index 3aea664fe2d..e6449361268 100644
--- a/pkg/api/frontendsettings.go
+++ b/pkg/api/frontendsettings.go
@@ -176,6 +176,10 @@ func (hs *HTTPServer) getFrontendSettings(c *contextmodel.ReqContext) (*dtos.Fro
 	secretsManagerPluginEnabled := kvstore.EvaluateRemoteSecretsPlugin(c.Req.Context(), hs.secretsPluginManager, hs.Cfg) == nil
 	trustedTypesDefaultPolicyEnabled := (hs.Cfg.CSPEnabled && strings.Contains(hs.Cfg.CSPTemplate, "require-trusted-types-for")) || (hs.Cfg.CSPReportOnlyEnabled && strings.Contains(hs.Cfg.CSPReportOnlyTemplate, "require-trusted-types-for"))
 	isCloudMigrationTarget := hs.Features.IsEnabled(c.Req.Context(), featuremgmt.FlagOnPremToCloudMigrations) && hs.Cfg.CloudMigration.IsTarget
+	featureToggles := hs.Features.GetEnabled(c.Req.Context())
+	// this is needed for backwards compatibility with external plugins
+	// we should remove this once we can be sure that no external plugins rely on this
+	featureToggles["topnav"] = true
 
 	frontendSettings := &dtos.FrontendSettingsDTO{
 		DefaultDatasource:                   defaultDS,
@@ -260,7 +264,7 @@ func (hs *HTTPServer) getFrontendSettings(c *contextmodel.ReqContext) (*dtos.Fro
 			EnabledFeatures: hs.License.EnabledFeatures(),
 		},
 
-		FeatureToggles:                   hs.Features.GetEnabled(c.Req.Context()),
+		FeatureToggles:                   featureToggles,
 		AnonymousEnabled:                 hs.Cfg.AnonymousEnabled,
 		AnonymousDeviceLimit:             hs.Cfg.AnonymousDeviceLimit,
 		RendererAvailable:                hs.RenderService.IsAvailable(c.Req.Context()),
diff --git a/pkg/services/featuremgmt/registry.go b/pkg/services/featuremgmt/registry.go
index d9766ec870e..82a06e7885a 100644
--- a/pkg/services/featuremgmt/registry.go
+++ b/pkg/services/featuremgmt/registry.go
@@ -187,15 +187,6 @@ var (
 			Stage:       FeatureStageExperimental,
 			Owner:       hostedGrafanaTeam,
 		},
-		{
-			// Some plugins rely on topnav feature flag being enabled, so we cannot remove this until we
-			// can afford the breaking change, or we've detemined no one else is relying on it
-			Name:        "topnav",
-			Description: "Enables topnav support in external plugins. The new Grafana navigation cannot be disabled.",
-			Stage:       FeatureStageDeprecated,
-			Expression:  "true", // enabled by default
-			Owner:       grafanaFrontendPlatformSquad,
-		},
 		{
 			Name:              "grpcServer",
 			Description:       "Run the GRPC server",
diff --git a/pkg/services/featuremgmt/toggles_gen.csv b/pkg/services/featuremgmt/toggles_gen.csv
index 978bcbdb39b..4f88acddc57 100644
--- a/pkg/services/featuremgmt/toggles_gen.csv
+++ b/pkg/services/featuremgmt/toggles_gen.csv
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ canvasPanelNesting,experimental,@grafana/dataviz-squad,false,false,true
 vizActions,experimental,@grafana/dataviz-squad,false,false,true
 disableSecretsCompatibility,experimental,@grafana/hosted-grafana-team,false,true,false
 logRequestsInstrumentedAsUnknown,experimental,@grafana/hosted-grafana-team,false,false,false
-topnav,deprecated,@grafana/grafana-frontend-platform,false,false,false
 grpcServer,preview,@grafana/search-and-storage,false,false,false
 cloudWatchCrossAccountQuerying,GA,@grafana/aws-datasources,false,false,false
 showDashboardValidationWarnings,experimental,@grafana/dashboards-squad,false,false,false
diff --git a/pkg/services/featuremgmt/toggles_gen.go b/pkg/services/featuremgmt/toggles_gen.go
index 221a413cdb3..655e1992622 100644
--- a/pkg/services/featuremgmt/toggles_gen.go
+++ b/pkg/services/featuremgmt/toggles_gen.go
@@ -99,10 +99,6 @@ const (
 	// Logs the path for requests that are instrumented as unknown
 	FlagLogRequestsInstrumentedAsUnknown = "logRequestsInstrumentedAsUnknown"
 
-	// FlagTopnav
-	// Enables topnav support in external plugins. The new Grafana navigation cannot be disabled.
-	FlagTopnav = "topnav"
-
 	// FlagGrpcServer
 	// Run the GRPC server
 	FlagGrpcServer = "grpcServer"
diff --git a/pkg/services/featuremgmt/toggles_gen.json b/pkg/services/featuremgmt/toggles_gen.json
index 35140c0d400..279d08e224b 100644
--- a/pkg/services/featuremgmt/toggles_gen.json
+++ b/pkg/services/featuremgmt/toggles_gen.json
@@ -2987,6 +2987,7 @@
         "name": "topnav",
         "resourceVersion": "1720021873452",
         "creationTimestamp": "2022-06-20T14:25:43Z",
+        "deletionTimestamp": "2024-10-15T15:00:51Z",
         "annotations": {
           "grafana.app/updatedTimestamp": "2024-07-03 15:51:13.452477 +0000 UTC"
         }