diff --git a/cmd/alertmanager/main.go b/cmd/alertmanager/main.go
index d29f0576cd..4c37a09b13 100644
--- a/cmd/alertmanager/main.go
+++ b/cmd/alertmanager/main.go
@@ -491,7 +491,7 @@ func run() int {
 			silencer.Mutes(labels)
 		})
 
-		disp = dispatch.NewDispatcher(alerts, routes, pipeline, marker, timeoutFunc, *dispatchMaintenanceInterval, nil, logger, dispMetrics)
+		newDisp := dispatch.NewDispatcher(alerts, routes, pipeline, marker, timeoutFunc, *dispatchMaintenanceInterval, nil, logger, dispMetrics)
 		routes.Walk(func(r *dispatch.Route) {
 			if r.RouteOpts.RepeatInterval > *retention {
 				configLogger.Warn(
@@ -518,8 +518,18 @@ func run() int {
 			}
 		})
 
-		go disp.Run()
+		// first, start the inhibitor so the inhibition cache can populate
+		// wait for this to load alerts before starting the dispatcher so
+		// we don't accidentially notify for an alert that will be inhibited
 		go inhibitor.Run()
+		inhibitor.WaitForLoading()
+
+		// next, start the dispatcher and wait for it to load before swapping the disp pointer.
+		// This ensures that the API doesn't see the new dispatcher before it finishes populating
+		// the aggrGroups
+		go newDisp.Run()
+		newDisp.WaitForLoading()
+		disp = newDisp
 
 		return nil
 	})
diff --git a/dispatch/dispatch.go b/dispatch/dispatch.go
index 9eff1816ec..974c6d3cb2 100644
--- a/dispatch/dispatch.go
+++ b/dispatch/dispatch.go
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ type Dispatcher struct {
 	timeout func(time.Duration) time.Duration
 
 	mtx                sync.RWMutex
+	loadingFinished    sync.WaitGroup
 	aggrGroupsPerRoute map[*Route]map[model.Fingerprint]*aggrGroup
 	aggrGroupsNum      int
 
@@ -127,6 +128,7 @@ func NewDispatcher(
 		metrics:             m,
 		limits:              lim,
 	}
+	disp.loadingFinished.Add(1)
 	return disp
 }
 
@@ -141,7 +143,13 @@ func (d *Dispatcher) Run() {
 	d.ctx, d.cancel = context.WithCancel(context.Background())
 	d.mtx.Unlock()
 
-	d.run(d.alerts.Subscribe("dispatcher"))
+	initalAlerts, it := d.alerts.SlurpAndSubscribe("dispatcher")
+	for _, alert := range initalAlerts {
+		d.ingestAlert(alert)
+	}
+	d.loadingFinished.Done()
+
+	d.run(it)
 	close(d.done)
 }
 
@@ -170,11 +178,7 @@ func (d *Dispatcher) run(it provider.AlertIterator) {
 				continue
 			}
 
-			now := time.Now()
-			for _, r := range d.route.Match(alert.Labels) {
-				d.processAlert(alert, r)
-			}
-			d.metrics.processingDuration.Observe(time.Since(now).Seconds())
+			d.ingestAlert(alert)
 
 		case <-maintenance.C:
 			d.doMaintenance()
@@ -200,6 +204,18 @@ func (d *Dispatcher) doMaintenance() {
 	}
 }
 
+func (d *Dispatcher) ingestAlert(alert *types.Alert) {
+	now := time.Now()
+	for _, r := range d.route.Match(alert.Labels) {
+		d.processAlert(alert, r)
+	}
+	d.metrics.processingDuration.Observe(time.Since(now).Seconds())
+}
+
+func (d *Dispatcher) WaitForLoading() {
+	d.loadingFinished.Wait()
+}
+
 // AlertGroup represents how alerts exist within an aggrGroup.
 type AlertGroup struct {
 	Alerts   types.AlertSlice
@@ -222,6 +238,7 @@ func (ag AlertGroups) Len() int { return len(ag) }
 
 // Groups returns a slice of AlertGroups from the dispatcher's internal state.
 func (d *Dispatcher) Groups(routeFilter func(*Route) bool, alertFilter func(*types.Alert, time.Time) bool) (AlertGroups, map[model.Fingerprint][]string) {
+	d.WaitForLoading()
 	groups := AlertGroups{}
 
 	d.mtx.RLock()
diff --git a/inhibit/inhibit.go b/inhibit/inhibit.go
index f0eae6af82..31eae39fd1 100644
--- a/inhibit/inhibit.go
+++ b/inhibit/inhibit.go
@@ -40,8 +40,9 @@ type Inhibitor struct {
 	logger  *slog.Logger
 	metrics *InhibitorMetrics
 
-	mtx    sync.RWMutex
-	cancel func()
+	mtx             sync.RWMutex
+	loadingFinished sync.WaitGroup
+	cancel          func()
 }
 
 // NewInhibitor returns a new Inhibitor.
@@ -53,6 +54,7 @@ func NewInhibitor(ap provider.Alerts, rs []config.InhibitRule, mk types.AlertMar
 		metrics: metrics,
 	}
 
+	ih.loadingFinished.Add(1)
 	ruleNames := make(map[string]struct{})
 	for i, cr := range rs {
 		if _, ok := ruleNames[cr.Name]; ok {
@@ -66,14 +68,19 @@ func NewInhibitor(ap provider.Alerts, rs []config.InhibitRule, mk types.AlertMar
 			ruleNames[cr.Name] = struct{}{}
 		}
 	}
-
 	return ih
 }
 
 func (ih *Inhibitor) run(ctx context.Context) {
-	it := ih.alerts.Subscribe("inhibitor")
+	initalAlerts, it := ih.alerts.SlurpAndSubscribe("inhibitor")
 	defer it.Close()
 
+	for _, a := range initalAlerts {
+		ih.processAlert(a)
+	}
+
+	ih.loadingFinished.Done()
+
 	for {
 		select {
 		case <-ctx.Done():
@@ -83,33 +90,41 @@ func (ih *Inhibitor) run(ctx context.Context) {
 				ih.logger.Error("Error iterating alerts", "err", err)
 				continue
 			}
-			// Update the inhibition rules' cache.
-			cachedSum := 0
-			indexedSum := 0
-			for _, r := range ih.rules {
-				if r.SourceMatchers.Matches(a.Labels) {
-					if err := r.scache.Set(a); err != nil {
-						ih.logger.Error("error on set alert", "err", err)
-						continue
-					}
-					r.updateIndex(a)
-
-				}
-				cached := r.scache.Len()
-				indexed := r.sindex.Len()
-
-				if r.Name != "" {
-					r.metrics.sourceAlertsCacheItems.With(prometheus.Labels{"rule": r.Name}).Set(float64(cached))
-					r.metrics.sourceAlertsIndexItems.With(prometheus.Labels{"rule": r.Name}).Set(float64(indexed))
-				}
-
-				cachedSum += cached
-				indexedSum += indexed
+			ih.processAlert(a)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func (ih *Inhibitor) processAlert(a *types.Alert) {
+	// Update the inhibition rules' cache.
+	cachedSum := 0
+	indexedSum := 0
+	for _, r := range ih.rules {
+		if r.SourceMatchers.Matches(a.Labels) {
+			if err := r.scache.Set(a); err != nil {
+				ih.logger.Error("error on set alert", "err", err)
+				continue
 			}
-			ih.metrics.sourceAlertsCacheItems.Set(float64(cachedSum))
-			ih.metrics.sourceAlertsIndexItems.Set(float64(indexedSum))
+			r.updateIndex(a)
+
+		}
+		cached := r.scache.Len()
+		indexed := r.sindex.Len()
+
+		if r.Name != "" {
+			r.metrics.sourceAlertsCacheItems.With(prometheus.Labels{"rule": r.Name}).Set(float64(cached))
+			r.metrics.sourceAlertsIndexItems.With(prometheus.Labels{"rule": r.Name}).Set(float64(indexed))
 		}
+
+		cachedSum += cached
+		indexedSum += indexed
 	}
+	ih.metrics.sourceAlertsCacheItems.Set(float64(cachedSum))
+	ih.metrics.sourceAlertsIndexItems.Set(float64(indexedSum))
+}
+
+func (ih *Inhibitor) WaitForLoading() {
+	ih.loadingFinished.Wait()
 }
 
 // Run the Inhibitor's background processing.
diff --git a/inhibit/inhibit_test.go b/inhibit/inhibit_test.go
index 2d73a8eba2..6326cf1037 100644
--- a/inhibit/inhibit_test.go
+++ b/inhibit/inhibit_test.go
@@ -413,6 +413,27 @@ func (f *fakeAlerts) Subscribe(name string) provider.AlertIterator {
 	return provider.NewAlertIterator(ch, done, nil)
 }
 
+func (f *fakeAlerts) SlurpAndSubscribe(name string) ([]*types.Alert, provider.AlertIterator) {
+	ch := make(chan *types.Alert)
+	done := make(chan struct{})
+	go func() {
+		for _, a := range f.alerts {
+			ch <- a
+		}
+		// Send another (meaningless) alert to make sure that the inhibitor has
+		// processed everything.
+		ch <- &types.Alert{
+			Alert: model.Alert{
+				Labels:   model.LabelSet{},
+				StartsAt: time.Now(),
+			},
+		}
+		close(f.finished)
+		<-done
+	}()
+	return []*types.Alert{}, provider.NewAlertIterator(ch, done, nil)
+}
+
 func TestInhibit(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
 
diff --git a/provider/mem/mem.go b/provider/mem/mem.go
index 4995ad2944..5c1512c986 100644
--- a/provider/mem/mem.go
+++ b/provider/mem/mem.go
@@ -195,6 +195,22 @@ func (a *Alerts) Subscribe(name string) provider.AlertIterator {
 	return provider.NewAlertIterator(ch, done, nil)
 }
 
+func (a *Alerts) SlurpAndSubscribe(name string) ([]*types.Alert, provider.AlertIterator) {
+	a.mtx.Lock()
+	defer a.mtx.Unlock()
+
+	var (
+		done   = make(chan struct{})
+		alerts = a.alerts.List()
+		ch     = make(chan *types.Alert, alertChannelLength)
+	)
+
+	a.listeners[a.next] = listeningAlerts{name: name, alerts: ch, done: done}
+	a.next++
+
+	return alerts, provider.NewAlertIterator(ch, done, nil)
+}
+
 // GetPending returns an iterator over all the alerts that have
 // pending notifications.
 func (a *Alerts) GetPending() provider.AlertIterator {
diff --git a/provider/provider.go b/provider/provider.go
index 0763e02d02..867e8149db 100644
--- a/provider/provider.go
+++ b/provider/provider.go
@@ -76,6 +76,18 @@ type Alerts interface {
 	// resolved and successfully notified about.
 	// They are not guaranteed to be in chronological order.
 	Subscribe(name string) AlertIterator
+
+	// SlurpAndSubcribe returns a list of all active alerts which are available
+	// in the provider before the call to SlurpAndSubcribe and an iterator
+	// of all alerts available after the call to SlurpAndSubcribe.
+	// SlurpAndSubcribe can be used by clients which need to build in memory state
+	// to know when they've processed the 'initial' batch of alerts in a provider
+	// after they reload their subscription.
+	// Implementation of SlurpAndSubcribe is optional - providers may choose to
+	// return an empty list for the first return value and the result of Subscribe
+	// for the second return value.
+	SlurpAndSubscribe(name string) ([]*types.Alert, AlertIterator)
+
 	// GetPending returns an iterator over all alerts that have
 	// pending notifications.
 	GetPending() AlertIterator