diff --git a/monasca_api/db/alembic/versions/26083b298bb7_remove_builtin_notification_types.py b/monasca_api/db/alembic/versions/26083b298bb7_remove_builtin_notification_types.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ea5605a15
--- /dev/null
+++ b/monasca_api/db/alembic/versions/26083b298bb7_remove_builtin_notification_types.py
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+# Copyright 2018 StackHPC Ltd
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
+# not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain
+# a copy of the License at
+#
+#      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+# WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
+# License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+"""Remove builtin notification types
+
+Revision ID: 26083b298bb7
+Revises: f69cb3152a76
+Create Date: 2018-09-18 13:52:02.170226
+
+"""
+from alembic import op
+import sqlalchemy as sa
+from sqlalchemy.sql import table
+
+# revision identifiers, used by Alembic.
+revision = '26083b298bb7'
+down_revision = 'f69cb3152a76'
+branch_labels = None
+depends_on = None
+
+_nm_types = table(
+    'notification_method_type',
+    sa.Column('name',
+              sa.String(length=20),
+              nullable=False))
+
+
+def upgrade():
+    # Built-in notification types have been removed. Here, we
+    # remove them and rely on monasca_notification to re-populate
+    # the table according to what is set in its config file.
+    op.execute(_nm_types.delete().where(
+        _nm_types.c.name.in_(('EMAIL', 'WEBHOOK', 'PAGERDUTY'))))
+
+
+def downgrade():
+    # Some or all of these might be present if they have been explicitly
+    # enabled in monasca-notification.
+    op.execute(_nm_types.insert().prefix_with("IGNORE").values(
+        [{'name': 'EMAIL'},
+         {'name': 'WEBHOOK'},
+         {'name': 'PAGERDUTY'}]))
diff --git a/monasca_api/db/fingerprint.py b/monasca_api/db/fingerprint.py
index b566c69a3..036651f52 100644
--- a/monasca_api/db/fingerprint.py
+++ b/monasca_api/db/fingerprint.py
@@ -14,9 +14,16 @@
 
 import hashlib
 
+from oslo_log import log
+from oslo_utils import encodeutils
 from sqlalchemy import MetaData
+from sqlalchemy.orm import sessionmaker
 
-# Map of SHA1 fingerprints to alembic revisions.
+LOG = log.getLogger(__name__)
+
+# Map of SHA1 fingerprints to alembic revisions. Note that this is
+# used in the pre-alembic case and does not need to be updated if a
+# new revision is introduced.
 _REVS = {"43e5913b0272077321ab6f25ffbcda7149b6284b": "00597b5c8325",
          "c4e5c870c705421faa4041405b5a895970faa434": "0cce983d957a",
          "f7a79c4eea9c9d130277a64eb6d2d16587088dbb": "30181b42434b",
@@ -34,8 +41,17 @@ _REVS = {"43e5913b0272077321ab6f25ffbcda7149b6284b": "00597b5c8325",
 class Fingerprint(object):
 
     def __init__(self, engine):
-        metadata = MetaData(bind=engine, reflect=True)
+        metadata = self._get_metadata(engine)
+        self.schema_raw = self._get_schema_raw(metadata)
+        self.sha1 = self._get_schema_sha1(self.schema_raw)
+        self.revision = self._get_revision(metadata, engine, self.sha1)
 
+    @staticmethod
+    def _get_metadata(engine):
+        return MetaData(bind=engine, reflect=True)
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def _get_schema_raw(metadata):
         schema_strings = []
 
         for table in metadata.sorted_tables:
@@ -56,11 +72,39 @@ class Fingerprint(object):
 
             schema_strings.append("")
 
-        self.schema_raw = "\n".join(schema_strings)
-        self.sha1 = hashlib.sha1(self.schema_raw).hexdigest()
+        return "\n".join(schema_strings)
 
-        try:
-            self.revision = _REVS[self.sha1]
-        except KeyError:
-            # Fingerprint does not match any revisions
-            self.revision = None
+    @staticmethod
+    def _get_schema_sha1(schema_raw):
+        return hashlib.sha1(encodeutils.to_utf8(schema_raw)).hexdigest()
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def _get_revision(metadata, engine, sha1):
+        # Alembic stores the current version in the DB so check that first
+        # and fall back to the lookup table for the pre-alembic case.
+        versions_table = metadata.tables.get('alembic_version')
+        if versions_table is not None:
+            return Fingerprint._lookup_version_from_db(versions_table, engine)
+        elif sha1:
+            return Fingerprint._lookup_version_from_table(sha1)
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def _get_db_session(engine):
+        Session = sessionmaker(bind=engine)
+        return Session()
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def _lookup_version_from_db(versions_table, engine):
+        session = Fingerprint._get_db_session(engine)
+        # This will throw an exception for the unexpected case when there is
+        # more than one row. The query returns a tuple which is stripped off
+        # before returning.
+        return session.query(versions_table).one()[0]
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def _lookup_version_from_table(sha1):
+        revision = _REVS.get(sha1)
+        if not revision:
+            LOG.warning("Fingerprint: {} does not match any revisions."
+                        .format(sha1))
+        return revision
diff --git a/monasca_api/tests/db/__init__.py b/monasca_api/tests/db/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e69de29bb
diff --git a/monasca_api/tests/db/test_fingerprint.py b/monasca_api/tests/db/test_fingerprint.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7e2744b52
--- /dev/null
+++ b/monasca_api/tests/db/test_fingerprint.py
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+# Copyright 2018 StackHPC Ltd.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
+# not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain
+# a copy of the License at
+#
+#      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+# WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
+# License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+
+import hashlib
+import mock
+
+import monasca_api.db.fingerprint as fingerprint
+from monasca_api.tests import base
+
+
+class TestFingerprint(base.BaseTestCase):
+
+    @mock.patch('monasca_api.db.fingerprint.Fingerprint._get_metadata')
+    @mock.patch('monasca_api.db.fingerprint.Fingerprint._get_schema_raw')
+    def test_get_schema_raw_pre_alembic(self, mock_schema_raw, mock_metadata):
+        mock_schema_raw.return_value = 'dummy_schema_raw'
+
+        tables = mock.PropertyMock = {
+            'dummy_table': 'dummy_columns'
+        }
+        mock_metadata.return_value.tables = tables
+
+        # No Alembic revision ID exists in the DB so we look it up from the
+        # table of fingerprints. Since we use a dummy schema, we insert a dummy
+        # entry into the lookup table.
+        fingerprint._REVS[
+            hashlib.sha1(b'dummy_schema_raw').hexdigest()] = 'dummy_revision'
+
+        f = fingerprint.Fingerprint('mock_engine')
+        self.assertEqual(f.schema_raw, 'dummy_schema_raw')
+        self.assertEqual(f.sha1, hashlib.sha1(b'dummy_schema_raw').hexdigest())
+        self.assertEqual(f.revision, 'dummy_revision')
+
+    @mock.patch('monasca_api.db.fingerprint.Fingerprint._get_db_session')
+    @mock.patch('monasca_api.db.fingerprint.Fingerprint._get_metadata')
+    @mock.patch('monasca_api.db.fingerprint.Fingerprint._get_schema_raw')
+    def test_get_schema_raw_post_alembic(
+            self, mock_schema_raw, mock_metadata, mock_db_session):
+        mock_schema_raw.return_value = 'dummy_schema_raw'
+
+        tables = mock.PropertyMock = {
+            'alembic_version': 'dummy_version',
+            'dummy_table': 'dummy_columns'
+        }
+        mock_metadata.return_value.tables = tables
+
+        # Alembic sets the version in the DB, so we look it up from there
+        mock_db_session.return_value.query.return_value.one.return_value = (
+            'dummy_revision',)
+
+        f = fingerprint.Fingerprint('mock_engine')
+        self.assertEqual(f.schema_raw, 'dummy_schema_raw')
+        self.assertEqual(f.sha1, hashlib.sha1(b'dummy_schema_raw').hexdigest())
+        self.assertEqual(f.revision, 'dummy_revision')
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/stop_pre_populating_built_in_monasca_notification_plugins_in_db-140ece49106b4a5a.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/stop_pre_populating_built_in_monasca_notification_plugins_in_db-140ece49106b4a5a.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..74dfb0d14
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/stop_pre_populating_built_in_monasca_notification_plugins_in_db-140ece49106b4a5a.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+upgrade:
+  - The concept of built-in monasca-notification plugins has been removed
+    and the built-in plugins are no longer pre-populated in the database. If
+    you were using the PAGERDUTY, EMAIL or WEBHOOK notification plugin you
+    should explicitly enable it in the monasca-notification config file.