diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 3c7ed2897e6..7ad2f5bdecb 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -1394,8 +1394,6 @@ github.com/grafana/saml v0.4.13-0.20230331080031-67cbfa09c7b6 h1:oHn/OOUkECNX06D
 github.com/grafana/saml v0.4.13-0.20230331080031-67cbfa09c7b6/go.mod h1:igEejV+fihTIlHXYP8zOec3V5A8y3lws5bQBFsTm4gA=
 github.com/grafana/sqlds/v2 v2.3.10 h1:HWKhE0vR6LoEiE+Is8CSZOgaB//D1yqb2ntkass9Fd4=
 github.com/grafana/sqlds/v2 v2.3.10/go.mod h1:c6ibxnxRVGxV/0YkEgvy7QpQH/lyifFyV7K/14xvdIs=
-github.com/grafana/thema v0.0.0-20230601172625-e3eaca4d36bd h1:gK5LMNi8AUp8xcrOSNfbvE5g3dT46Qgy+/pCon1Z9jc=
-github.com/grafana/thema v0.0.0-20230601172625-e3eaca4d36bd/go.mod h1:KWAKeFXxQYiJ/kBVbijBLRVq9atxkfkeeFIvmj4clEA=
 github.com/grafana/thema v0.0.0-20230615161902-b6e21996aef8 h1:ESVwKjvGWVucGY65rJq0Hny3a6p8UYqEbClqXhP2qJk=
 github.com/grafana/thema v0.0.0-20230615161902-b6e21996aef8/go.mod h1:KWAKeFXxQYiJ/kBVbijBLRVq9atxkfkeeFIvmj4clEA=
 github.com/grafana/xorm v0.8.3-0.20220614223926-2fcda7565af6 h1:I9dh1MXGX0wGyxdV/Sl7+ugnki4Dfsy8lv2s5Yf887o=
diff --git a/pkg/services/ngalert/state/compat.go b/pkg/services/ngalert/state/compat.go
index fbe934bc344..e660b3b232c 100644
--- a/pkg/services/ngalert/state/compat.go
+++ b/pkg/services/ngalert/state/compat.go
@@ -48,11 +48,8 @@ func StateToPostableAlert(alertState *State, appURL *url.URL) *models.PostableAl
 		nA[alertingModels.ValueStringAnnotation] = alertState.LastEvaluationString
 	}
 
-	if alertState.Image != nil {
-		imageURI := generateImageURI(alertState.Image)
-		if imageURI != "" {
-			nA[alertingModels.ImageTokenAnnotation] = imageURI
-		}
+	if alertState.Image != nil && alertState.Image.Token != "" {
+		nA[alertingModels.ImageTokenAnnotation] = alertState.Image.Token
 	}
 
 	if alertState.StateReason != "" {
@@ -169,17 +166,3 @@ func FromAlertsStateToStoppedAlert(firingStates []StateTransition, appURL *url.U
 	}
 	return alerts
 }
-
-// generateImageURI returns a string that serves as an identifier for the image.
-// It first checks if there is an image URL available, and if not,
-// it prefixes the image token with `token://` and uses it as the URI.
-func generateImageURI(image *ngModels.Image) string {
-	if image.URL != "" {
-		return image.URL
-	}
-	if image.Token != "" {
-		return "token://" + image.Token
-	}
-
-	return ""
-}
diff --git a/pkg/services/ngalert/state/compat_test.go b/pkg/services/ngalert/state/compat_test.go
index f98f32ff7a1..21de47f026a 100644
--- a/pkg/services/ngalert/state/compat_test.go
+++ b/pkg/services/ngalert/state/compat_test.go
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ func Test_StateToPostableAlert(t *testing.T) {
 					for k, v := range alertState.Annotations {
 						expected[k] = v
 					}
-					expected["__alertImageToken__"] = "token://" + alertState.Image.Token
+					expected["__alertImageToken__"] = alertState.Image.Token
 
 					require.Equal(t, expected, result.Annotations)
 				})