diff --git a/cmd/alertmanager/main.go b/cmd/alertmanager/main.go
index 8ac93cff..b1543b4d 100644
--- a/cmd/alertmanager/main.go
+++ b/cmd/alertmanager/main.go
@@ -112,9 +112,10 @@ func main() {
 	var (
 		showVersion = flag.Bool("version", false, "Print version information.")
 
-		configFile = flag.String("config.file", "alertmanager.yml", "Alertmanager configuration file name.")
-		dataDir    = flag.String("storage.path", "data/", "Base path for data storage.")
-		retention  = flag.Duration("data.retention", 5*24*time.Hour, "How long to keep data for.")
+		configFile      = flag.String("config.file", "alertmanager.yml", "Alertmanager configuration file name.")
+		dataDir         = flag.String("storage.path", "data/", "Base path for data storage.")
+		retention       = flag.Duration("data.retention", 5*24*time.Hour, "How long to keep data for.")
+		alertGCInterval = flag.Duration("alerts.gc-interval", 30*time.Minute, "Interval between alert GC.")
 
 		externalURL   = flag.String("web.external-url", "", "The URL under which Alertmanager is externally reachable (for example, if Alertmanager is served via a reverse proxy). Used for generating relative and absolute links back to Alertmanager itself. If the URL has a path portion, it will be used to prefix all HTTP endpoints served by Alertmanager. If omitted, relevant URL components will be derived automatically.")
 		routePrefix   = flag.String("web.route-prefix", "", "Prefix for the internal routes of web endpoints. Defaults to path of -web.external-url.")
@@ -245,7 +246,7 @@ func main() {
 		wg.Wait()
 	}()
 
-	alerts, err := mem.NewAlerts(marker, 30*time.Minute, *dataDir)
+	alerts, err := mem.NewAlerts(marker, *alertGCInterval)
 	if err != nil {
 		level.Error(logger).Log("err", err)
 		os.Exit(1)
diff --git a/provider/mem/mem.go b/provider/mem/mem.go
index fc119f87..23c91e22 100644
--- a/provider/mem/mem.go
+++ b/provider/mem/mem.go
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ type Alerts struct {
 }
 
 // NewAlerts returns a new alert provider.
-func NewAlerts(m types.Marker, intervalGC time.Duration, path string) (*Alerts, error) {
+func NewAlerts(m types.Marker, intervalGC time.Duration) (*Alerts, error) {
 	a := &Alerts{
 		alerts:     map[model.Fingerprint]*types.Alert{},
 		marker:     m,
diff --git a/provider/mem/mem_test.go b/provider/mem/mem_test.go
index ddc15d5c..5ad649ce 100644
--- a/provider/mem/mem_test.go
+++ b/provider/mem/mem_test.go
@@ -14,8 +14,6 @@
 package mem
 
 import (
-	"io/ioutil"
-	"os"
 	"reflect"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
@@ -31,13 +29,8 @@ func init() {
 }
 
 func TestAlertsPut(t *testing.T) {
-	dir, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "alerts_test")
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
 	marker := types.NewMarker()
-	alerts, err := NewAlerts(marker, 30*time.Minute, dir)
+	alerts, err := NewAlerts(marker, 30*time.Minute)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
@@ -98,14 +91,8 @@ func TestAlertsPut(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestAlertsGC(t *testing.T) {
-	dir, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "alerts_test")
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	defer os.RemoveAll(dir)
-
 	marker := types.NewMarker()
-	alerts, err := NewAlerts(marker, 200*time.Millisecond, dir)
+	alerts, err := NewAlerts(marker, 200*time.Millisecond)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}