diff --git a/pkg/services/apiserver/builder/helper.go b/pkg/services/apiserver/builder/helper.go
index 902ad4f5646..0e83cb4741c 100644
--- a/pkg/services/apiserver/builder/helper.go
+++ b/pkg/services/apiserver/builder/helper.go
@@ -178,6 +178,8 @@ func InstallAPIs(
 	// this is needed to support setting a default RESTOptionsGetter for new APIs that don't
 	// support the legacy storage type.
 	var dualWrite grafanarest.DualWriteBuilder
+
+	// nolint:staticcheck
 	if storageOpts.StorageType != options.StorageTypeLegacy {
 		dualWrite = func(gr schema.GroupResource, legacy grafanarest.LegacyStorage, storage grafanarest.Storage) (grafanarest.Storage, error) {
 			key := gr.String() // ${resource}.{group} eg playlists.playlist.grafana.app
diff --git a/pkg/services/apiserver/config.go b/pkg/services/apiserver/config.go
index 66ed0b6a4eb..e8f41b685a8 100644
--- a/pkg/services/apiserver/config.go
+++ b/pkg/services/apiserver/config.go
@@ -50,7 +50,8 @@ func applyGrafanaConfig(cfg *setting.Cfg, features featuremgmt.FeatureToggles, o
 	o.RecommendedOptions.Admission = nil
 	o.RecommendedOptions.CoreAPI = nil
 
-	o.StorageOptions.StorageType = options.StorageType(apiserverCfg.Key("storage_type").MustString(string(options.StorageTypeLegacy)))
+	// nolint:staticcheck
+	o.StorageOptions.StorageType = options.StorageType(apiserverCfg.Key("storage_type").MustString(string(options.StorageTypeUnified)))
 	o.StorageOptions.DataPath = apiserverCfg.Key("storage_path").MustString(filepath.Join(cfg.DataPath, "grafana-apiserver"))
 	o.StorageOptions.Address = apiserverCfg.Key("address").MustString(o.StorageOptions.Address)
 	o.StorageOptions.BlobStoreURL = apiserverCfg.Key("blob_url").MustString(o.StorageOptions.BlobStoreURL)
diff --git a/pkg/services/apiserver/options/storage.go b/pkg/services/apiserver/options/storage.go
index d8ee2674aa5..4841112fedf 100644
--- a/pkg/services/apiserver/options/storage.go
+++ b/pkg/services/apiserver/options/storage.go
@@ -17,9 +17,11 @@ type StorageType string
 const (
 	StorageTypeFile        StorageType = "file"
 	StorageTypeEtcd        StorageType = "etcd"
-	StorageTypeLegacy      StorageType = "legacy"
 	StorageTypeUnified     StorageType = "unified"
 	StorageTypeUnifiedGrpc StorageType = "unified-grpc"
+
+	// Deprecated: legacy is a shim that is no longer necessary
+	StorageTypeLegacy StorageType = "legacy"
 )
 
 type StorageOptions struct {
@@ -45,7 +47,7 @@ type StorageOptions struct {
 
 func NewStorageOptions() *StorageOptions {
 	return &StorageOptions{
-		StorageType: StorageTypeLegacy,
+		StorageType: StorageTypeUnified,
 		Address:     "localhost:10000",
 	}
 }
@@ -59,9 +61,13 @@ func (o *StorageOptions) AddFlags(fs *pflag.FlagSet) {
 func (o *StorageOptions) Validate() []error {
 	errs := []error{}
 	switch o.StorageType {
-	case StorageTypeFile, StorageTypeEtcd, StorageTypeLegacy, StorageTypeUnified, StorageTypeUnifiedGrpc:
+	// nolint:staticcheck
+	case StorageTypeLegacy:
+		// no-op
+	case StorageTypeFile, StorageTypeEtcd, StorageTypeUnified, StorageTypeUnifiedGrpc:
 		// no-op
 	default:
+		// nolint:staticcheck
 		errs = append(errs, fmt.Errorf("--grafana-apiserver-storage-type must be one of %s, %s, %s, %s, %s", StorageTypeFile, StorageTypeEtcd, StorageTypeLegacy, StorageTypeUnified, StorageTypeUnifiedGrpc))
 	}
 
@@ -84,6 +90,7 @@ func (o *StorageOptions) ApplyTo(serverConfig *genericapiserver.RecommendedConfi
 // EnforceFeatureToggleAfterMode1 makes sure there is a feature toggle set for resources with DualWriterMode > 1.
 // This is needed to ensure that we use the K8s client before enabling dual writing.
 func (o *StorageOptions) EnforceFeatureToggleAfterMode1(features featuremgmt.FeatureToggles) error {
+	// nolint:staticcheck
 	if o.StorageType != StorageTypeLegacy {
 		for rg, s := range o.UnifiedStorageConfig {
 			if s.DualWriterMode > 1 {
diff --git a/pkg/services/apiserver/options/storage_test.go b/pkg/services/apiserver/options/storage_test.go
index 72e052eeb03..540dcac4fdc 100644
--- a/pkg/services/apiserver/options/storage_test.go
+++ b/pkg/services/apiserver/options/storage_test.go
@@ -3,9 +3,10 @@ package options
 import (
 	"testing"
 
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/services/featuremgmt"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/setting"
-	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 )
 
 func TestStorageOptions_CheckFeatureToggle(t *testing.T) {
@@ -18,7 +19,7 @@ func TestStorageOptions_CheckFeatureToggle(t *testing.T) {
 	}{
 		{
 			name:                 "with legacy storage",
-			StorageType:          StorageTypeLegacy,
+			StorageType:          StorageTypeLegacy, // nolint:staticcheck
 			UnifiedStorageConfig: map[string]setting.UnifiedStorageConfig{"playlists.playlist.grafana.app": {DualWriterMode: 2}},
 			features:             featuremgmt.WithFeatures(),
 		},
diff --git a/pkg/storage/unified/client.go b/pkg/storage/unified/client.go
index 3c45d2135e4..558a0b05187 100644
--- a/pkg/storage/unified/client.go
+++ b/pkg/storage/unified/client.go
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ func ProvideUnifiedStorageClient(
 	// See: apiserver.ApplyGrafanaConfig(cfg, features, o)
 	apiserverCfg := cfg.SectionWithEnvOverrides("grafana-apiserver")
 	client, err := newClient(options.StorageOptions{
-		StorageType:  options.StorageType(apiserverCfg.Key("storage_type").MustString(string(options.StorageTypeLegacy))),
+		StorageType:  options.StorageType(apiserverCfg.Key("storage_type").MustString(string(options.StorageTypeUnified))),
 		DataPath:     apiserverCfg.Key("storage_path").MustString(filepath.Join(cfg.DataPath, "grafana-apiserver")),
 		Address:      apiserverCfg.Key("address").MustString(""), // client address
 		BlobStoreURL: apiserverCfg.Key("blob_url").MustString(""),
diff --git a/pkg/tests/api/alerting/api_alertmanager_test.go b/pkg/tests/api/alerting/api_alertmanager_test.go
index a4dcb3862b5..d51faf1c531 100644
--- a/pkg/tests/api/alerting/api_alertmanager_test.go
+++ b/pkg/tests/api/alerting/api_alertmanager_test.go
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/expr"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/infra/db"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/infra/tracing"
-	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/services/apiserver/options"
 	apimodels "github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/services/ngalert/api/tooling/definitions"
 	ngmodels "github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/services/ngalert/models"
 	ngstore "github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/services/ngalert/store"
@@ -702,7 +701,6 @@ func TestIntegrationDeleteFolderWithRules(t *testing.T) {
 		DisableAnonymous:      true,
 		ViewersCanEdit:        true,
 		AppModeProduction:     true,
-		APIServerStorageType:  options.StorageTypeLegacy,
 	}
 
 	// Setup Grafana and its Database