diff --git a/public/app/features/alerting/unified/AmRoutes.test.tsx b/public/app/features/alerting/unified/AmRoutes.test.tsx
index d5c9594ccdb..a55faa6076b 100644
--- a/public/app/features/alerting/unified/AmRoutes.test.tsx
+++ b/public/app/features/alerting/unified/AmRoutes.test.tsx
@@ -79,6 +79,7 @@ const ui = {
   editRouteButton: byLabelText('Edit route'),
   deleteRouteButton: byLabelText('Delete route'),
   newPolicyButton: byRole('button', { name: /New policy/ }),
+  newPolicyCTAButton: byRole('button', { name: /New specific policy/ }),
 
   receiverSelect: byTestId('am-receiver-select'),
   groupSelect: byTestId('am-group-select'),
@@ -508,6 +509,25 @@ describe('AmRoutes', () => {
     expect(mocks.api.fetchAlertManagerConfig).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     expect(mocks.api.fetchStatus).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
   });
+
+  it('Prometheus Alertmanager has no CTA button if there are no specific policies', async () => {
+    mocks.api.fetchStatus.mockResolvedValue({
+      ...someCloudAlertManagerStatus,
+      config: {
+        ...someCloudAlertManagerConfig.alertmanager_config,
+        route: {
+          ...someCloudAlertManagerConfig.alertmanager_config.route,
+          routes: undefined,
+        },
+      },
+    });
+    await renderAmRoutes(dataSources.promAlertManager.name);
+    const rootRouteContainer = await ui.rootRouteContainer.find();
+    expect(ui.editButton.query(rootRouteContainer)).not.toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(ui.newPolicyCTAButton.query()).not.toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(mocks.api.fetchAlertManagerConfig).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(mocks.api.fetchStatus).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+  });
 });
 
 const clickSelectOption = async (selectElement: HTMLElement, optionText: string): Promise<void> => {
diff --git a/public/app/features/alerting/unified/components/EmptyArea.tsx b/public/app/features/alerting/unified/components/EmptyArea.tsx
index ac8bf038458..6482547d906 100644
--- a/public/app/features/alerting/unified/components/EmptyArea.tsx
+++ b/public/app/features/alerting/unified/components/EmptyArea.tsx
@@ -1,43 +1,12 @@
-import React, { ButtonHTMLAttributes, FC } from 'react';
+import React, { FC } from 'react';
 import { css } from '@emotion/css';
 import { GrafanaTheme } from '@grafana/data';
-import { Button, ButtonVariant, IconName, useStyles } from '@grafana/ui';
+import { useStyles } from '@grafana/ui';
 
-export interface EmptyAreaProps {
-  buttonLabel: string;
-  onButtonClick: ButtonHTMLAttributes<HTMLButtonElement>['onClick'];
-  text: string;
-
-  buttonIcon?: IconName;
-  buttonSize?: 'xs' | 'sm' | 'md' | 'lg';
-  buttonVariant?: ButtonVariant;
-}
-
-export const EmptyArea: FC<EmptyAreaProps> = ({
-  buttonIcon,
-  buttonLabel,
-  buttonSize = 'lg',
-  buttonVariant = 'primary',
-  onButtonClick,
-  text,
-}) => {
+export const EmptyArea: FC = ({ children }) => {
   const styles = useStyles(getStyles);
 
-  return (
-    <div className={styles.container}>
-      <p className={styles.text}>{text}</p>
-      <Button
-        className={styles.button}
-        icon={buttonIcon}
-        onClick={onButtonClick}
-        size={buttonSize}
-        type="button"
-        variant={buttonVariant}
-      >
-        {buttonLabel}
-      </Button>
-    </div>
-  );
+  return <div className={styles.container}>{children}</div>;
 };
 
 const getStyles = (theme: GrafanaTheme) => {
@@ -48,11 +17,5 @@ const getStyles = (theme: GrafanaTheme) => {
       padding: ${theme.spacing.xl};
       text-align: center;
     `,
-    text: css`
-      margin-bottom: ${theme.spacing.md};
-    `,
-    button: css`
-      margin: ${theme.spacing.md} 0 ${theme.spacing.sm};
-    `,
   };
 };
diff --git a/public/app/features/alerting/unified/components/EmptyAreaWithCTA.tsx b/public/app/features/alerting/unified/components/EmptyAreaWithCTA.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..85d289bf7ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/public/app/features/alerting/unified/components/EmptyAreaWithCTA.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+import React, { ButtonHTMLAttributes, FC } from 'react';
+import { css } from '@emotion/css';
+import { GrafanaTheme } from '@grafana/data';
+import { Button, ButtonVariant, IconName, useStyles } from '@grafana/ui';
+import { EmptyArea } from './EmptyArea';
+
+export interface EmptyAreaWithCTAProps {
+  buttonLabel: string;
+  onButtonClick: ButtonHTMLAttributes<HTMLButtonElement>['onClick'];
+  text: string;
+
+  buttonIcon?: IconName;
+  buttonSize?: 'xs' | 'sm' | 'md' | 'lg';
+  buttonVariant?: ButtonVariant;
+}
+
+export const EmptyAreaWithCTA: FC<EmptyAreaWithCTAProps> = ({
+  buttonIcon,
+  buttonLabel,
+  buttonSize = 'lg',
+  buttonVariant = 'primary',
+  onButtonClick,
+  text,
+}) => {
+  const styles = useStyles(getStyles);
+
+  return (
+    <EmptyArea>
+      <>
+        <p className={styles.text}>{text}</p>
+        <Button
+          className={styles.button}
+          icon={buttonIcon}
+          onClick={onButtonClick}
+          size={buttonSize}
+          type="button"
+          variant={buttonVariant}
+        >
+          {buttonLabel}
+        </Button>
+      </>
+    </EmptyArea>
+  );
+};
+
+const getStyles = (theme: GrafanaTheme) => {
+  return {
+    container: css`
+      background-color: ${theme.colors.bg2};
+      color: ${theme.colors.textSemiWeak};
+      padding: ${theme.spacing.xl};
+      text-align: center;
+    `,
+    text: css`
+      margin-bottom: ${theme.spacing.md};
+    `,
+    button: css`
+      margin: ${theme.spacing.md} 0 ${theme.spacing.sm};
+    `,
+  };
+};
diff --git a/public/app/features/alerting/unified/components/amroutes/AmSpecificRouting.tsx b/public/app/features/alerting/unified/components/amroutes/AmSpecificRouting.tsx
index d27b8d9f3ce..d4d36a8a197 100644
--- a/public/app/features/alerting/unified/components/amroutes/AmSpecificRouting.tsx
+++ b/public/app/features/alerting/unified/components/amroutes/AmSpecificRouting.tsx
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import { AmRouteReceiver, FormAmRoute } from '../../types/amroutes';
 import { emptyArrayFieldMatcher, emptyRoute } from '../../utils/amroutes';
 import { EmptyArea } from '../EmptyArea';
 import { AmRoutesTable } from './AmRoutesTable';
+import { EmptyAreaWithCTA } from '../EmptyAreaWithCTA';
 
 export interface AmSpecificRoutingProps {
   onChange: (routes: FormAmRoute) => void;
@@ -43,12 +44,18 @@ export const AmSpecificRouting: FC<AmSpecificRoutingProps> = ({
       <h5>Specific routing</h5>
       <p>Send specific alerts to chosen contact points, based on matching criteria</p>
       {!routes.receiver ? (
-        <EmptyArea
-          buttonIcon="rocket"
-          buttonLabel="Set a default contact point"
-          onButtonClick={onRootRouteEdit}
-          text="You haven't set a default contact point for the root route yet."
-        />
+        readOnly ? (
+          <EmptyArea>
+            <p>There is no default contact point configured for the root route.</p>
+          </EmptyArea>
+        ) : (
+          <EmptyAreaWithCTA
+            buttonIcon="rocket"
+            buttonLabel="Set a default contact point"
+            onButtonClick={onRootRouteEdit}
+            text="You haven't set a default contact point for the root route yet."
+          />
+        )
       ) : actualRoutes.length > 0 ? (
         <>
           {!isAddMode && !readOnly && (
@@ -82,8 +89,12 @@ export const AmSpecificRouting: FC<AmSpecificRoutingProps> = ({
             routes={actualRoutes}
           />
         </>
+      ) : readOnly ? (
+        <EmptyArea>
+          <p>There are no specific policies configured.</p>
+        </EmptyArea>
       ) : (
-        <EmptyArea
+        <EmptyAreaWithCTA
           buttonIcon="plus"
           buttonLabel="New specific policy"
           onButtonClick={addNewRoute}