diff --git a/public/app/features/alerting/AlertTabCtrl.ts b/public/app/features/alerting/AlertTabCtrl.ts
index 96b1cab5a70..9a0baf00b75 100644
--- a/public/app/features/alerting/AlertTabCtrl.ts
+++ b/public/app/features/alerting/AlertTabCtrl.ts
@@ -237,7 +237,6 @@ export class AlertTabCtrl {
     for (const notification of this.notifications) {
       if (notification.isDefault) {
         notification.iconClass = this.getNotificationIcon(notification.type);
-        notification.bgColor = '#00678b';
         this.alertNotifications.push(notification);
       }
     }
diff --git a/public/app/features/alerting/partials/alert_tab.html b/public/app/features/alerting/partials/alert_tab.html
index 2e5e66c744a..5dddf12e41b 100644
--- a/public/app/features/alerting/partials/alert_tab.html
+++ b/public/app/features/alerting/partials/alert_tab.html
@@ -139,8 +139,9 @@
           <span class="gf-form-label width-8">Send to</span>
         </div>
         <div class="gf-form" ng-repeat="nc in ctrl.alertNotifications">
-          <span class="gf-form-label" ng-style="{'background-color': nc.bgColor }">
-            <i class="{{nc.iconClass}}"></i>&nbsp;{{nc.name}}&nbsp;
+          <span class="gf-form-label">
+            <i class="{{nc.iconClass}}"></i>
+            &nbsp;{{nc.name}}&nbsp;<span ng-if="nc.isDefault">(default)</span>
             <i class="fa fa-remove pointer muted" ng-click="ctrl.removeNotification(nc)" ng-if="nc.isDefault === false"></i>
           </span>
         </div>