diff --git a/public/app/core/reducers/root.ts b/public/app/core/reducers/root.ts
index bab29a9acad..c8154839d1d 100644
--- a/public/app/core/reducers/root.ts
+++ b/public/app/core/reducers/root.ts
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import teamsReducers from 'app/features/teams/state/reducers';
 import usersReducers from 'app/features/users/state/reducers';
 import templatingReducers from 'app/features/variables/state/keyedVariablesReducer';
 
+import { alertingApi } from '../../features/alerting/unified/api/alertingApi';
 import { CleanUp, cleanUpAction } from '../actions/cleanUp';
 
 const rootReducers = {
@@ -42,6 +43,7 @@ const rootReducers = {
   ...panelsReducers,
   ...templatingReducers,
   plugins: pluginsReducer,
+  [alertingApi.reducerPath]: alertingApi.reducer,
 };
 
 const addedReducers = {};
diff --git a/public/app/features/alerting/unified/AmRoutes.test.tsx b/public/app/features/alerting/unified/AmRoutes.test.tsx
index 96c08e6f39c..01462fdc863 100644
--- a/public/app/features/alerting/unified/AmRoutes.test.tsx
+++ b/public/app/features/alerting/unified/AmRoutes.test.tsx
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import { AccessControlAction } from 'app/types';
 
 import AmRoutes from './AmRoutes';
 import { fetchAlertManagerConfig, fetchStatus, updateAlertManagerConfig } from './api/alertmanager';
+import { discoverAlertmanagerFeatures } from './api/buildInfo';
 import { mockDataSource, MockDataSourceSrv, someCloudAlertManagerConfig, someCloudAlertManagerStatus } from './mocks';
 import { defaultGroupBy } from './utils/amroutes';
 import { getAllDataSources } from './utils/config';
@@ -29,6 +30,7 @@ import { DataSourceType, GRAFANA_RULES_SOURCE_NAME } from './utils/datasource';
 jest.mock('./api/alertmanager');
 jest.mock('./utils/config');
 jest.mock('app/core/services/context_srv');
+jest.mock('./api/buildInfo');
 
 const mocks = {
   getAllDataSourcesMock: jest.mocked(getAllDataSources),
@@ -37,6 +39,7 @@ const mocks = {
     fetchAlertManagerConfig: jest.mocked(fetchAlertManagerConfig),
     updateAlertManagerConfig: jest.mocked(updateAlertManagerConfig),
     fetchStatus: jest.mocked(fetchStatus),
+    discoverAlertmanagerFeatures: jest.mocked(discoverAlertmanagerFeatures),
   },
   contextSrv: jest.mocked(contextSrv),
 };
@@ -83,6 +86,8 @@ const ui = {
   editButton: byRole('button', { name: 'Edit' }),
   saveButton: byRole('button', { name: 'Save' }),
 
+  setDefaultReceiverCTA: byRole('button', { name: 'Set a default contact point' }),
+
   editRouteButton: byLabelText('Edit route'),
   deleteRouteButton: byLabelText('Delete route'),
   newPolicyButton: byRole('button', { name: /New policy/ }),
@@ -192,6 +197,7 @@ describe('AmRoutes', () => {
     mocks.contextSrv.hasAccess.mockImplementation(() => true);
     mocks.contextSrv.hasPermission.mockImplementation(() => true);
     mocks.contextSrv.evaluatePermission.mockImplementation(() => []);
+    mocks.api.discoverAlertmanagerFeatures.mockResolvedValue({ lazyConfigInit: false });
     setDataSourceSrv(new MockDataSourceSrv(dataSources));
   });
 
@@ -499,7 +505,7 @@ describe('AmRoutes', () => {
     mocks.api.updateAlertManagerConfig.mockResolvedValue(Promise.resolve());
 
     await renderAmRoutes(GRAFANA_RULES_SOURCE_NAME);
-    expect(mocks.api.fetchAlertManagerConfig).toHaveBeenCalled();
+    await waitFor(() => expect(mocks.api.fetchAlertManagerConfig).toHaveBeenCalled());
 
     const deleteButtons = await ui.deleteRouteButton.findAll();
     expect(deleteButtons).toHaveLength(1);
@@ -697,6 +703,21 @@ describe('AmRoutes', () => {
       },
     });
   });
+
+  it('Shows an empty config when config returns an error and the AM supports lazy config initialization', async () => {
+    mocks.api.discoverAlertmanagerFeatures.mockResolvedValue({ lazyConfigInit: true });
+
+    mocks.api.fetchAlertManagerConfig.mockRejectedValue({
+      message: 'alertmanager storage object not found',
+    });
+
+    await renderAmRoutes();
+
+    await waitFor(() => expect(mocks.api.fetchAlertManagerConfig).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1));
+
+    expect(ui.rootReceiver.query()).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(ui.setDefaultReceiverCTA.query()).toBeInTheDocument();
+  });
 });
 
 const clickSelectOption = async (selectElement: HTMLElement, optionText: string): Promise<void> => {
diff --git a/public/app/features/alerting/unified/Receivers.test.tsx b/public/app/features/alerting/unified/Receivers.test.tsx
index a58669d56f6..9bc2b11fb20 100644
--- a/public/app/features/alerting/unified/Receivers.test.tsx
+++ b/public/app/features/alerting/unified/Receivers.test.tsx
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import { AccessControlAction } from 'app/types';
 
 import Receivers from './Receivers';
 import { updateAlertManagerConfig, fetchAlertManagerConfig, fetchStatus, testReceivers } from './api/alertmanager';
+import { discoverAlertmanagerFeatures } from './api/buildInfo';
 import { fetchNotifiers } from './api/grafana';
 import {
   mockDataSource,
@@ -33,6 +34,7 @@ jest.mock('./api/alertmanager');
 jest.mock('./api/grafana');
 jest.mock('./utils/config');
 jest.mock('app/core/services/context_srv');
+jest.mock('./api/buildInfo');
 
 const mocks = {
   getAllDataSources: jest.mocked(getAllDataSources),
@@ -43,6 +45,7 @@ const mocks = {
     updateConfig: jest.mocked(updateAlertManagerConfig),
     fetchNotifiers: jest.mocked(fetchNotifiers),
     testReceivers: jest.mocked(testReceivers),
+    discoverAlertmanagerFeatures: jest.mocked(discoverAlertmanagerFeatures),
   },
   contextSrv: jest.mocked(contextSrv),
 };
@@ -129,6 +132,7 @@ describe('Receivers', () => {
     jest.resetAllMocks();
     mocks.getAllDataSources.mockReturnValue(Object.values(dataSources));
     mocks.api.fetchNotifiers.mockResolvedValue(grafanaNotifiersMock);
+    mocks.api.discoverAlertmanagerFeatures.mockResolvedValue({ lazyConfigInit: false });
     setDataSourceSrv(new MockDataSourceSrv(dataSources));
     mocks.contextSrv.isEditor = true;
     store.delete(ALERTMANAGER_NAME_LOCAL_STORAGE_KEY);
@@ -470,4 +474,18 @@ describe('Receivers', () => {
     expect(mocks.api.fetchStatus).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
     expect(mocks.api.fetchStatus).toHaveBeenLastCalledWith('CloudManager');
   });
+
+  it('Shows an empty config when config returns an error and the AM supports lazy config initialization', async () => {
+    mocks.api.discoverAlertmanagerFeatures.mockResolvedValue({ lazyConfigInit: true });
+    mocks.api.fetchConfig.mockRejectedValue({ message: 'alertmanager storage object not found' });
+
+    await renderReceivers('CloudManager');
+
+    const templatesTable = await ui.templatesTable.find();
+    const receiversTable = await ui.receiversTable.find();
+
+    expect(templatesTable).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(receiversTable).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(ui.newContactPointButton.get()).toBeInTheDocument();
+  });
 });
diff --git a/public/app/features/alerting/unified/Silences.tsx b/public/app/features/alerting/unified/Silences.tsx
index c0c1eda8135..76587e0cd40 100644
--- a/public/app/features/alerting/unified/Silences.tsx
+++ b/public/app/features/alerting/unified/Silences.tsx
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import { Redirect, Route, RouteChildrenProps, Switch, useLocation } from 'react-
 import { Alert, LoadingPlaceholder, withErrorBoundary } from '@grafana/ui';
 import { Silence } from 'app/plugins/datasource/alertmanager/types';
 
+import { featureDiscoveryApi } from './api/featureDiscoveryApi';
 import { AlertManagerPicker } from './components/AlertManagerPicker';
 import { AlertingPageWrapper } from './components/AlertingPageWrapper';
 import { NoAlertManagerWarning } from './components/NoAlertManagerWarning';
@@ -31,6 +32,11 @@ const Silences: FC = () => {
   const location = useLocation();
   const isRoot = location.pathname.endsWith('/alerting/silences');
 
+  const { currentData: amFeatures } = featureDiscoveryApi.useDiscoverAmFeaturesQuery(
+    { amSourceName: alertManagerSourceName ?? '' },
+    { skip: !alertManagerSourceName }
+  );
+
   useEffect(() => {
     function fetchAll() {
       if (alertManagerSourceName) {
@@ -50,6 +56,9 @@ const Silences: FC = () => {
 
   const getSilenceById = useCallback((id: string) => result && result.find((silence) => silence.id === id), [result]);
 
+  const mimirLazyInitError =
+    error?.message?.includes('the Alertmanager is not configured') && amFeatures?.lazyConfigInit;
+
   if (!alertManagerSourceName) {
     return isRoot ? (
       <AlertingPageWrapper pageId="silences">
@@ -68,12 +77,19 @@ const Silences: FC = () => {
         onChange={setAlertManagerSourceName}
         dataSources={alertManagers}
       />
-      {error && !loading && (
+
+      {mimirLazyInitError && (
+        <Alert title="The selected Alertmanager has no configuration" severity="warning">
+          Create a new contact point to create a configuration using the default values or contact your administrator to
+          set up the Alertmanager.
+        </Alert>
+      )}
+      {error && !loading && !mimirLazyInitError && (
         <Alert severity="error" title="Error loading silences">
           {error.message || 'Unknown error.'}
         </Alert>
       )}
-      {alertsRequest?.error && !alertsRequest?.loading && (
+      {alertsRequest?.error && !alertsRequest?.loading && !mimirLazyInitError && (
         <Alert severity="error" title="Error loading Alertmanager alerts">
           {alertsRequest.error?.message || 'Unknown error.'}
         </Alert>
diff --git a/public/app/features/alerting/unified/api/alertingApi.ts b/public/app/features/alerting/unified/api/alertingApi.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..473900da265
--- /dev/null
+++ b/public/app/features/alerting/unified/api/alertingApi.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+import { BaseQueryFn, createApi } from '@reduxjs/toolkit/query/react';
+import { lastValueFrom } from 'rxjs';
+
+import { BackendSrvRequest, getBackendSrv } from '@grafana/runtime';
+
+const backendSrvBaseQuery = (): BaseQueryFn<BackendSrvRequest> => async (requestOptions) => {
+  try {
+    const { data, ...meta } = await lastValueFrom(getBackendSrv().fetch(requestOptions));
+
+    return { data, meta };
+  } catch (error) {
+    return { error };
+  }
+};
+
+export const alertingApi = createApi({
+  reducerPath: 'alertingApi',
+  baseQuery: backendSrvBaseQuery(),
+  endpoints: () => ({}),
+});
diff --git a/public/app/features/alerting/unified/api/buildInfo.ts b/public/app/features/alerting/unified/api/buildInfo.ts
index cc623411e5e..5cf40832d0f 100644
--- a/public/app/features/alerting/unified/api/buildInfo.ts
+++ b/public/app/features/alerting/unified/api/buildInfo.ts
@@ -1,14 +1,48 @@
 import { lastValueFrom } from 'rxjs';
 
 import { getBackendSrv, isFetchError } from '@grafana/runtime';
-import { PromApplication, PromApiFeatures, PromBuildInfoResponse } from 'app/types/unified-alerting-dto';
+import {
+  AlertmanagerApiFeatures,
+  PromApiFeatures,
+  PromApplication,
+  PromBuildInfoResponse,
+} from 'app/types/unified-alerting-dto';
 
 import { RULER_NOT_SUPPORTED_MSG } from '../utils/constants';
-import { getDataSourceByName } from '../utils/datasource';
+import { getDataSourceByName, GRAFANA_RULES_SOURCE_NAME } from '../utils/datasource';
 
 import { fetchRules } from './prometheus';
 import { fetchTestRulerRulesGroup } from './ruler';
 
+/**
+ * Attempt to fetch buildinfo from our component
+ */
+export async function discoverFeatures(dataSourceName: string): Promise<PromApiFeatures> {
+  if (dataSourceName === GRAFANA_RULES_SOURCE_NAME) {
+    return {
+      features: {
+        rulerApiEnabled: true,
+      },
+    };
+  }
+
+  const dsConfig = getDataSourceByName(dataSourceName);
+  if (!dsConfig) {
+    throw new Error(`Cannot find data source configuration for ${dataSourceName}`);
+  }
+
+  const { url, name, type } = dsConfig;
+  if (!url) {
+    throw new Error(`The data source url cannot be empty.`);
+  }
+
+  if (type !== 'prometheus' && type !== 'loki') {
+    throw new Error(`The build info request is not available for ${type}. Only 'prometheus' and 'loki' are supported`);
+  }
+
+  return discoverDataSourceFeatures({ name, url, type });
+}
+
 /**
  * This function will attempt to detect what type of system we are talking to; this could be
  * Prometheus (vanilla) | Cortex | Mimir
@@ -27,7 +61,7 @@ export async function discoverDataSourceFeatures(dsSettings: {
   // The current implementation of Loki's build info endpoint is useless
   // because it doesn't provide information about Loki's available features (e.g. Ruler API)
   // It's better to skip fetching it for Loki and go the Cortex path (manual discovery)
-  const buildInfoResponse = type === 'prometheus' ? await fetchPromBuildInfo(url) : undefined;
+  const buildInfoResponse = type === 'loki' ? undefined : await fetchPromBuildInfo(url);
 
   // check if the component returns buildinfo
   const hasBuildInfo = buildInfoResponse !== undefined;
@@ -51,7 +85,7 @@ export async function discoverDataSourceFeatures(dsSettings: {
     };
   }
 
-  // if no features are reported but buildinfo was return we're talking to Prometheus
+  // if no features are reported but buildinfo was returned we're talking to Prometheus
   const { features } = buildInfoResponse.data;
   if (!features) {
     return {
@@ -71,27 +105,46 @@ export async function discoverDataSourceFeatures(dsSettings: {
   };
 }
 
-/**
- * Attempt to fetch buildinfo from our component
- */
-export async function discoverFeatures(dataSourceName: string): Promise<PromApiFeatures> {
-  const dsConfig = getDataSourceByName(dataSourceName);
-  if (!dsConfig) {
-    throw new Error(`Cannot find data source configuration for ${dataSourceName}`);
+export async function discoverAlertmanagerFeatures(amSourceName: string): Promise<AlertmanagerApiFeatures> {
+  if (amSourceName === GRAFANA_RULES_SOURCE_NAME) {
+    return { lazyConfigInit: false };
   }
-  const { url, name, type } = dsConfig;
+
+  const dsConfig = getDataSourceConfig(amSourceName);
+
+  const { url, type } = dsConfig;
   if (!url) {
-    throw new Error(`The data souce url cannot be empty.`);
+    throw new Error(`The data source url cannot be empty.`);
   }
 
-  if (type !== 'prometheus' && type !== 'loki') {
-    throw new Error(`The build info request is not available for ${type}. Only 'prometheus' and 'loki' are supported`);
+  if (type !== 'alertmanager') {
+    throw new Error(
+      `Alertmanager feature discovery is not available for ${type}. Only 'alertmanager' type is supported`
+    );
   }
 
-  return discoverDataSourceFeatures({ name, url, type });
+  return await discoverAlertmanagerFeaturesByUrl(url);
 }
 
-async function fetchPromBuildInfo(url: string): Promise<PromBuildInfoResponse | undefined> {
+export async function discoverAlertmanagerFeaturesByUrl(url: string): Promise<AlertmanagerApiFeatures> {
+  try {
+    const buildInfo = await fetchPromBuildInfo(url);
+    return { lazyConfigInit: buildInfo?.data?.application === 'Grafana Mimir' };
+  } catch (e) {
+    // If we cannot access the build info then we assume the lazy config is not available
+    return { lazyConfigInit: false };
+  }
+}
+
+function getDataSourceConfig(amSourceName: string) {
+  const dsConfig = getDataSourceByName(amSourceName);
+  if (!dsConfig) {
+    throw new Error(`Cannot find data source configuration for ${amSourceName}`);
+  }
+  return dsConfig;
+}
+
+export async function fetchPromBuildInfo(url: string): Promise<PromBuildInfoResponse | undefined> {
   const response = await lastValueFrom(
     getBackendSrv().fetch<PromBuildInfoResponse>({
       url: `${url}/api/v1/status/buildinfo`,
@@ -136,7 +189,6 @@ async function hasRulerSupport(dataSourceName: string) {
     throw e;
   }
 }
-
 // there errors indicate that the ruler API might be disabled or not supported for Cortex
 function errorIndicatesMissingRulerSupport(error: any) {
   return (
diff --git a/public/app/features/alerting/unified/api/featureDiscoveryApi.ts b/public/app/features/alerting/unified/api/featureDiscoveryApi.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..2f7f00bd31f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/public/app/features/alerting/unified/api/featureDiscoveryApi.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+import { AlertmanagerApiFeatures } from '../../../../types/unified-alerting-dto';
+
+import { alertingApi } from './alertingApi';
+import { discoverAlertmanagerFeatures } from './buildInfo';
+
+export const featureDiscoveryApi = alertingApi.injectEndpoints({
+  endpoints: (build) => ({
+    discoverAmFeatures: build.query<AlertmanagerApiFeatures, { amSourceName: string }>({
+      queryFn: async ({ amSourceName }) => {
+        try {
+          const amFeatures = await discoverAlertmanagerFeatures(amSourceName);
+          return { data: amFeatures };
+        } catch (error) {
+          return { error: error };
+        }
+      },
+    }),
+  }),
+});
diff --git a/public/app/features/alerting/unified/state/actions.ts b/public/app/features/alerting/unified/state/actions.ts
index 946118b3096..3043cfede1e 100644
--- a/public/app/features/alerting/unified/state/actions.ts
+++ b/public/app/features/alerting/unified/state/actions.ts
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@ import {
   SilenceCreatePayload,
   TestReceiversAlert,
 } from 'app/plugins/datasource/alertmanager/types';
-import messageFromError from 'app/plugins/datasource/grafana-azure-monitor-datasource/utils/messageFromError';
 import { FolderDTO, NotifierDTO, StoreState, ThunkResult } from 'app/types';
 import {
   CombinedRuleGroup,
@@ -50,6 +49,7 @@ import {
 } from '../api/alertmanager';
 import { fetchAnnotations } from '../api/annotations';
 import { discoverFeatures } from '../api/buildInfo';
+import { featureDiscoveryApi } from '../api/featureDiscoveryApi';
 import { fetchNotifiers } from '../api/grafana';
 import { FetchPromRulesFilter, fetchRules } from '../api/prometheus';
 import {
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ import {
   isVanillaPrometheusAlertManagerDataSource,
 } from '../utils/datasource';
 import { makeAMLink, retryWhile } from '../utils/misc';
-import { AsyncRequestMapSlice, withAppEvents, withSerializedError } from '../utils/redux';
+import { AsyncRequestMapSlice, messageFromError, withAppEvents, withSerializedError } from '../utils/redux';
 import * as ruleId from '../utils/rule-id';
 import { getRulerClient } from '../utils/rulerClient';
 import { isRulerNotSupportedResponse } from '../utils/rules';
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ export const fetchPromRulesAction = createAsyncThunk(
 
 export const fetchAlertManagerConfigAction = createAsyncThunk(
   'unifiedalerting/fetchAmConfig',
-  (alertManagerSourceName: string): Promise<AlertManagerCortexConfig> =>
+  (alertManagerSourceName: string, thunkAPI): Promise<AlertManagerCortexConfig> =>
     withSerializedError(
       (async () => {
         // for vanilla prometheus, there is no config endpoint. Only fetch config from status
@@ -119,27 +119,49 @@ export const fetchAlertManagerConfigAction = createAsyncThunk(
           }));
         }
 
+        const { data: amFeatures } = await thunkAPI.dispatch(
+          featureDiscoveryApi.endpoints.discoverAmFeatures.initiate({
+            amSourceName: alertManagerSourceName,
+          })
+        );
+
+        const lazyConfigInitSupported = amFeatures?.lazyConfigInit ?? false;
+
         return retryWhile(
           () => fetchAlertManagerConfig(alertManagerSourceName),
           // if config has been recently deleted, it takes a while for cortex start returning the default one.
           // retry for a short while instead of failing
-          (e) => !!messageFromError(e)?.includes('alertmanager storage object not found'),
+          (e) => !!messageFromError(e)?.includes('alertmanager storage object not found') && !lazyConfigInitSupported,
           FETCH_CONFIG_RETRY_TIMEOUT
-        ).then((result) => {
-          // if user config is empty for cortex alertmanager, try to get config from status endpoint
-          if (
-            isEmpty(result.alertmanager_config) &&
-            isEmpty(result.template_files) &&
-            alertManagerSourceName !== GRAFANA_RULES_SOURCE_NAME
-          ) {
-            return fetchStatus(alertManagerSourceName).then((status) => ({
-              alertmanager_config: status.config,
-              template_files: {},
-              template_file_provenances: result.template_file_provenances,
-            }));
-          }
-          return result;
-        });
+        )
+          .then((result) => {
+            // if user config is empty for cortex alertmanager, try to get config from status endpoint
+            if (
+              isEmpty(result.alertmanager_config) &&
+              isEmpty(result.template_files) &&
+              alertManagerSourceName !== GRAFANA_RULES_SOURCE_NAME
+            ) {
+              return fetchStatus(alertManagerSourceName).then((status) => ({
+                alertmanager_config: status.config,
+                template_files: {},
+                template_file_provenances: result.template_file_provenances,
+              }));
+            }
+            return result;
+          })
+          .catch((e) => {
+            // When mimir doesn't have fallback AM url configured the default response will be as above
+            // However it's fine, and it's possible to create AM configuration
+            if (lazyConfigInitSupported && messageFromError(e)?.includes('alertmanager storage object not found')) {
+              return Promise.resolve<AlertManagerCortexConfig>({
+                alertmanager_config: {},
+                template_files: {},
+                template_file_provenances: {},
+              });
+            }
+
+            throw e;
+          });
       })()
     )
 );
@@ -452,7 +474,8 @@ export const updateAlertManagerConfigAction = createAsyncThunk<void, UpdateAlert
     withAppEvents(
       withSerializedError(
         (async () => {
-          const latestConfig = await fetchAlertManagerConfig(alertManagerSourceName);
+          const latestConfig = await thunkAPI.dispatch(fetchAlertManagerConfigAction(alertManagerSourceName)).unwrap();
+
           if (
             !(isEmpty(latestConfig.alertmanager_config) && isEmpty(latestConfig.template_files)) &&
             JSON.stringify(latestConfig) !== JSON.stringify(oldConfig)
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/alertmanager/DataSource.ts b/public/app/plugins/datasource/alertmanager/DataSource.ts
index 5616ac4ab51..315e85864c6 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/alertmanager/DataSource.ts
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/alertmanager/DataSource.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,11 @@
 import { lastValueFrom, Observable, of } from 'rxjs';
 
 import { DataQuery, DataQueryResponse, DataSourceApi, DataSourceInstanceSettings } from '@grafana/data';
-import { BackendSrvRequest, getBackendSrv } from '@grafana/runtime';
+import { BackendSrvRequest, getBackendSrv, isFetchError } from '@grafana/runtime';
+
+import { discoverAlertmanagerFeaturesByUrl } from '../../../features/alerting/unified/api/buildInfo';
+import { messageFromError } from '../../../features/alerting/unified/utils/redux';
+import { AlertmanagerApiFeatures } from '../../../types/unified-alerting-dto';
 
 import { AlertManagerDataSourceJsonData, AlertManagerImplementation } from './types';
 
@@ -43,6 +47,11 @@ export class AlertManagerDatasource extends DataSourceApi<AlertManagerQuery, Ale
 
   async testDatasource() {
     let alertmanagerResponse;
+    const amUrl = this.instanceSettings.url;
+
+    const amFeatures: AlertmanagerApiFeatures = amUrl
+      ? await discoverAlertmanagerFeaturesByUrl(amUrl)
+      : { lazyConfigInit: false };
 
     if (this.instanceSettings.jsonData.implementation === AlertManagerImplementation.prometheus) {
       try {
@@ -71,7 +80,19 @@ export class AlertManagerDatasource extends DataSourceApi<AlertManagerQuery, Ale
       } catch (e) {}
       try {
         alertmanagerResponse = await this._request('/alertmanager/api/v2/status');
-      } catch (e) {}
+      } catch (e) {
+        if (
+          isFetchError(e) &&
+          amFeatures.lazyConfigInit &&
+          messageFromError(e)?.includes('the Alertmanager is not configured')
+        ) {
+          return {
+            status: 'success',
+            message: 'Health check passed.',
+            details: { message: 'Mimir Alertmanager without the fallback configuration has been discovered.' },
+          };
+        }
+      }
     }
 
     return alertmanagerResponse?.status === 200
diff --git a/public/app/store/configureStore.ts b/public/app/store/configureStore.ts
index c28a2c0a6bb..837185588fd 100644
--- a/public/app/store/configureStore.ts
+++ b/public/app/store/configureStore.ts
@@ -1,11 +1,10 @@
-import { configureStore as reduxConfigureStore, MiddlewareArray } from '@reduxjs/toolkit';
-import { AnyAction } from 'redux';
-import { ThunkMiddleware } from 'redux-thunk';
+import { configureStore as reduxConfigureStore } from '@reduxjs/toolkit';
 
 import { StoreState } from 'app/types/store';
 
 import { buildInitialState } from '../core/reducers/navModel';
 import { addReducer, createRootReducer } from '../core/reducers/root';
+import { alertingApi } from '../features/alerting/unified/api/alertingApi';
 
 import { setStore } from './store';
 
@@ -17,10 +16,12 @@ export function addRootReducer(reducers: any) {
 }
 
 export function configureStore(initialState?: Partial<StoreState>) {
-  const store = reduxConfigureStore<StoreState, AnyAction, MiddlewareArray<[ThunkMiddleware<StoreState, AnyAction>]>>({
+  const store = reduxConfigureStore({
     reducer: createRootReducer(),
     middleware: (getDefaultMiddleware) =>
-      getDefaultMiddleware({ thunk: true, serializableCheck: false, immutableCheck: false }),
+      getDefaultMiddleware({ thunk: true, serializableCheck: false, immutableCheck: false }).concat(
+        alertingApi.middleware
+      ),
     devTools: process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production',
     preloadedState: {
       navIndex: buildInitialState(),
diff --git a/public/app/types/unified-alerting-dto.ts b/public/app/types/unified-alerting-dto.ts
index 8a447a9c1bb..6f0604b9cfb 100644
--- a/public/app/types/unified-alerting-dto.ts
+++ b/public/app/types/unified-alerting-dto.ts
@@ -78,6 +78,19 @@ export interface PromApiFeatures {
   };
 }
 
+export interface AlertmanagerApiFeatures {
+  /**
+   * Some Alertmanager implementations (Mimir) are multi-tenant systems.
+   *
+   * To save on compute costs, tenants are not active until they have a configuration set.
+   * If there is no fallback_config_file set, Alertmanager endpoints will respond with HTTP 404
+   *
+   * Despite that, it is possible to create a configuration for such datasource
+   * by posting a new config to the `/api/v1/alerts` endpoint
+   */
+  lazyConfigInit: boolean;
+}
+
 interface PromRuleDTOBase {
   health: string;
   name: string;