diff --git a/pkg/metrics/metrics.go b/pkg/metrics/metrics.go
index f2616b3444c..1cdcc71e132 100644
--- a/pkg/metrics/metrics.go
+++ b/pkg/metrics/metrics.go
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ var (
 	M_Alerting_Result_State_Paused       Counter
 	M_Alerting_Result_State_NoData       Counter
 	M_Alerting_Result_State_ExecError    Counter
-	M_Alerting_Result_State_Initialized  Counter
+	M_Alerting_Result_State_Pending			 Counter
 	M_Alerting_Active_Alerts             Counter
 	M_Alerting_Notification_Sent_Slack   Counter
 	M_Alerting_Notification_Sent_Email   Counter
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ func initMetricVars(settings *MetricSettings) {
 	M_Alerting_Result_State_Paused = RegCounter("alerting.result", "state", "paused")
 	M_Alerting_Result_State_NoData = RegCounter("alerting.result", "state", "no_data")
 	M_Alerting_Result_State_ExecError = RegCounter("alerting.result", "state", "exec_error")
-	M_Alerting_Result_State_Initialized = RegCounter("alerting.result", "state", "initialized")
+	M_Alerting_Result_State_Pending = RegCounter("alerting.result", "state", "pending")
 
 	M_Alerting_Active_Alerts = RegCounter("alerting.active_alerts")
 	M_Alerting_Notification_Sent_Slack = RegCounter("alerting.notifications_sent", "type", "slack")
diff --git a/pkg/models/alert.go b/pkg/models/alert.go
index b0d97756955..ec2e8e18841 100644
--- a/pkg/models/alert.go
+++ b/pkg/models/alert.go
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ const (
 	AlertStatePaused    	 AlertStateType = "paused"
 	AlertStateAlerting     AlertStateType = "alerting"
 	AlertStateOK           AlertStateType = "ok"
-	AlertStateInitialized  AlertStateType = "initialized"
+	AlertStatePending      AlertStateType = "pending"
 )
 
 const (
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ const (
 )
 
 func (s AlertStateType) IsValid() bool {
-	return s == AlertStateOK || s == AlertStateNoData || s == AlertStateExecError || s == AlertStatePaused || s == AlertStateInitialized
+	return s == AlertStateOK || s == AlertStateNoData || s == AlertStateExecError || s == AlertStatePaused || s == AlertStatePending
 }
 
 func (s NoDataOption) IsValid() bool {
diff --git a/pkg/services/alerting/result_handler.go b/pkg/services/alerting/result_handler.go
index 323c8776f4a..d2ad9345416 100644
--- a/pkg/services/alerting/result_handler.go
+++ b/pkg/services/alerting/result_handler.go
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ func (handler *DefaultResultHandler) Handle(evalContext *EvalContext) error {
 			handler.log.Error("Failed to save annotation for new alert state", "error", err)
 		}
 
-		if (oldState == m.AlertStateInitialized) && (evalContext.Rule.State == m.AlertStateOK) {
+		if (oldState == m.AlertStatePending) && (evalContext.Rule.State == m.AlertStateOK) {
 			handler.log.Info("Notfication not sent", "oldState", oldState, "newState", evalContext.Rule.State)
 		} else {
 			handler.notifier.Notify(evalContext)
@@ -103,8 +103,8 @@ func (handler *DefaultResultHandler) shouldUpdateAlertState(evalContext *EvalCon
 
 func countStateResult(state m.AlertStateType) {
 	switch state {
-	case m.AlertStateInitialized:
-		metrics.M_Alerting_Result_State_Initialized.Inc(1)
+	case m.AlertStatePending:
+		metrics.M_Alerting_Result_State_Pending.Inc(1)
 	case m.AlertStateAlerting:
 		metrics.M_Alerting_Result_State_Alerting.Inc(1)
 	case m.AlertStateOK:
diff --git a/pkg/services/sqlstore/alert.go b/pkg/services/sqlstore/alert.go
index 4eca93a10d6..c7d7f341b61 100644
--- a/pkg/services/sqlstore/alert.go
+++ b/pkg/services/sqlstore/alert.go
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ func upsertAlerts(existingAlerts []*m.Alert, cmd *m.SaveAlertsCommand, sess *xor
 		} else {
 			alert.Updated = time.Now()
 			alert.Created = time.Now()
-			alert.State = m.AlertStateInitialized
+			alert.State = m.AlertStatePending
 			alert.NewStateDate = time.Now()
 
 			_, err := sess.Insert(alert)
diff --git a/pkg/services/sqlstore/alert_test.go b/pkg/services/sqlstore/alert_test.go
index 3aba605bb5c..e22b1c48c47 100644
--- a/pkg/services/sqlstore/alert_test.go
+++ b/pkg/services/sqlstore/alert_test.go
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ func TestAlertingDataAccess(t *testing.T) {
 			So(err2, ShouldBeNil)
 			So(alert.Name, ShouldEqual, "Alerting title")
 			So(alert.Message, ShouldEqual, "Alerting message")
-			So(alert.State, ShouldEqual, "initialized")
+			So(alert.State, ShouldEqual, "pending")
 			So(alert.Frequency, ShouldEqual, 1)
 		})
 
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ func TestAlertingDataAccess(t *testing.T) {
 				So(query.Result[0].Name, ShouldEqual, "Name")
 
 				Convey("Alert state should not be updated", func() {
-					So(query.Result[0].State, ShouldEqual, "initialized")
+					So(query.Result[0].State, ShouldEqual, "pending")
 				})
 			})