diff --git a/pkg/services/ngalert/remote/alertmanager.go b/pkg/services/ngalert/remote/alertmanager.go
index 82b222713ef..5928c8f6dcb 100644
--- a/pkg/services/ngalert/remote/alertmanager.go
+++ b/pkg/services/ngalert/remote/alertmanager.go
@@ -232,19 +232,15 @@ func (am *Alertmanager) ApplyConfig(ctx context.Context, config *models.AlertCon
 }
 
 func (am *Alertmanager) checkReadiness(ctx context.Context) error {
-	ready, err := am.amClient.IsReadyWithBackoff(ctx)
+	err := am.amClient.IsReadyWithBackoff(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	if ready {
-		am.log.Debug("Alertmanager readiness check successful")
-		am.metrics.LastReadinessCheck.SetToCurrentTime()
-		am.ready = true
-		return nil
-	}
-
-	return notifier.ErrAlertmanagerNotReady
+	am.log.Debug("Alertmanager readiness check successful")
+	am.metrics.LastReadinessCheck.SetToCurrentTime()
+	am.ready = true
+	return nil
 }
 
 // CompareAndSendConfiguration checks whether a given configuration is being used by the remote Alertmanager.
diff --git a/pkg/services/ngalert/remote/client/alertmanager.go b/pkg/services/ngalert/remote/client/alertmanager.go
index bc228884460..d7cf67ec41a 100644
--- a/pkg/services/ngalert/remote/client/alertmanager.go
+++ b/pkg/services/ngalert/remote/client/alertmanager.go
@@ -66,69 +66,65 @@ func (am *Alertmanager) GetAuthedClient() client.Requester {
 }
 
 // IsReadyWithBackoff executes a readiness check against the `/-/ready` Alertmanager endpoint.
-// If it takes more than 10s to get a response back - we abort the check.
-func (am *Alertmanager) IsReadyWithBackoff(ctx context.Context) (bool, error) {
-	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(ctx)
+// It uses exponential backoff (100ms * 2^attempts) with a 10s timeout.
+func (am *Alertmanager) IsReadyWithBackoff(ctx context.Context) error {
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, 10*time.Second)
 	defer cancel()
 
-	readyURL := am.url.JoinPath(alertmanagerAPIMountPath, alertmanagerReadyPath)
-
-	attempt := func() (int, error) {
-		req, err := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, http.MethodGet, readyURL.String(), nil)
-		if err != nil {
-			return 0, fmt.Errorf("error creating the readiness request: %w", err)
-		}
-
-		res, err := am.httpClient.Do(req)
-		if err != nil {
-			return 0, fmt.Errorf("error performing the readiness check: %w", err)
-		}
-
-		defer func() {
-			if err := res.Body.Close(); err != nil {
-				am.logger.Warn("Error closing response body", "err", err)
-			}
-		}()
-
-		return res.StatusCode, nil
-	}
-
-	var attempts int
-	ticker := time.NewTicker(100 * time.Millisecond)
-	deadlineCh := time.After(10 * time.Second)
-	defer ticker.Stop()
-
-	for {
+	var wait time.Duration
+	for attempt := 1; ; attempt++ {
 		select {
-		case <-ticker.C:
-			attempts++
-			status, err := attempt()
+		case <-ctx.Done():
+			return fmt.Errorf("readiness check timed out")
+		case <-time.After(wait):
+			wait = time.Duration(100<<attempt-1) * time.Millisecond
+			status, err := am.checkReadiness(ctx)
 			if err != nil {
-				am.logger.Debug("Ready check attempt failed", "attempt", attempts, "err", err)
-				continue
+				am.logger.Debug("Readiness check attempt failed", "attempt", attempt, "err", err)
+				break
 			}
 
-			if status != http.StatusOK {
-				if status >= 400 && status < 500 {
-					if status == http.StatusNotAcceptable {
-						// Mimir returns a 406 when the Alertmanager for the tenant is not running.
-						// This is expected if the Grafana Alertmanager configuration is default or not promoted.
-						// We can still use the endpoints to store and retrieve configuration/state.
-						am.logger.Debug("Remote Alertmanager not initialized for tenant", "attempt", attempts, "status", status)
-						return true, nil
-					}
-
-					am.logger.Debug("Ready check failed with non-retriable status code", "attempt", attempts, "status", status)
-					return false, fmt.Errorf("ready check failed with non-retriable status code %d", status)
-				}
-				am.logger.Debug("Ready check failed, status code is not 200", "attempt", attempts, "status", status, "err", err)
-				continue
+			if status == http.StatusOK {
+				return nil
 			}
 
-			return true, nil
-		case <-deadlineCh:
-			cancel()
-			return false, fmt.Errorf("ready check timed out after %d attempts", attempts)
+			if status == http.StatusNotAcceptable {
+				// Mimir returns a 406 when the Alertmanager for the tenant is not running.
+				// This is expected if the Grafana Alertmanager configuration is default or not promoted.
+				// We can still use the endpoints to store and retrieve configuration/state.
+				am.logger.Debug("Remote Alertmanager not initialized for tenant")
+				return nil
+			}
+
+			if status >= 400 && status < 500 {
+				return fmt.Errorf("readiness check failed on attempt %d with non-retriable status code %d", attempt, status)
+			}
+			am.logger.Debug("Readiness check failed, status code is not 200", "attempt", attempt, "status", status, "err", err)
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+func (am *Alertmanager) checkReadiness(ctx context.Context) (int, error) {
+	req, err := http.NewRequestWithContext(
+		ctx,
+		http.MethodGet,
+		am.url.JoinPath(alertmanagerAPIMountPath, alertmanagerReadyPath).String(),
+		nil,
+	)
+	if err != nil {
+		return 0, fmt.Errorf("error creating the readiness request: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	res, err := am.httpClient.Do(req)
+	if err != nil {
+		return 0, fmt.Errorf("error performing the readiness check: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	defer func() {
+		if err := res.Body.Close(); err != nil {
+			am.logger.Warn("Error closing response body", "err", err)
+		}
+	}()
+
+	return res.StatusCode, nil
+}