diff --git a/src/apps.js b/src/apps.js
index 4225837f4..b83f1e026 100644
--- a/src/apps.js
+++ b/src/apps.js
@@ -2556,7 +2556,7 @@ async function autoupdateApps(updateInfo, auditSource) { // updateInfo is { appI
 
         if (!canAutoupdateApp(app, updateInfo[appId])) {
             debug(`app ${app.fqdn} requires manual update`);
-            notifications.alert(notifications.ALERT_MANUAL_APP_UPDATE, `${app.manifest.title} at ${app.fqdn} requires manual update to version ${updateInfo[appId].manifest.version}`, `Changelog:\n${updateInfo[appId].manifest.changelog}\n`);
+            notifications.alert(notifications.ALERT_MANUAL_APP_UPDATE, `${app.manifest.title} at ${app.fqdn} requires manual update to version ${updateInfo[appId].manifest.version}`, `Changelog:\n${updateInfo[appId].manifest.changelog}\n`, { persist: false });
             continue;
         }
 
diff --git a/src/cloudron.js b/src/cloudron.js
index d4ff341bf..a49ac977a 100644
--- a/src/cloudron.js
+++ b/src/cloudron.js
@@ -193,13 +193,13 @@ async function runSystemChecks() {
 
 async function checkMailStatus() {
     const message = await mail.checkConfiguration();
-    await notifications.alert(notifications.ALERT_MAIL_STATUS, 'Email is not configured properly', message);
+    await notifications.alert(notifications.ALERT_MAIL_STATUS, 'Email is not configured properly', message, { persist: true });
 }
 
 async function checkRebootRequired() {
     const rebootRequired = await isRebootRequired();
     if (rebootRequired) {
-        await notifications.alert(notifications.ALERT_REBOOT, 'Reboot Required', 'To finish ubuntu security updates, a reboot is necessary.');
+        await notifications.alert(notifications.ALERT_REBOOT, 'Reboot Required', 'To finish ubuntu security updates, a reboot is necessary.', { persist: true });
     } else {
         await notifications.clearAlert(notifications.ALERT_REBOOT, 'Reboot Required');
     }
@@ -209,7 +209,7 @@ async function checkUbuntuVersion() {
     const isXenial = fs.readFileSync('/etc/lsb-release', 'utf-8').includes('16.04');
     if (!isXenial) return;
 
-    await notifications.alert(notifications.ALERT_UPDATE_UBUNTU, 'Ubuntu upgrade required', 'Ubuntu 16.04 has reached end of life and will not receive security and maintenance updates. Please follow https://docs.cloudron.io/guides/upgrade-ubuntu-18/ to upgrade to Ubuntu 18 at the earliest.');
+    await notifications.alert(notifications.ALERT_UPDATE_UBUNTU, 'Ubuntu upgrade required', 'Ubuntu 16.04 has reached end of life and will not receive security and maintenance updates. Please follow https://docs.cloudron.io/guides/upgrade-ubuntu-18/ to upgrade to Ubuntu 18 at the earliest.', { persist: true });
 }
 
 async function getLogs(unit, options) {
diff --git a/src/notifications.js b/src/notifications.js
index 7fe663e1c..d5ef3a7cc 100644
--- a/src/notifications.js
+++ b/src/notifications.js
@@ -225,25 +225,26 @@ async function backupFailed(eventId, taskId, errorMessage) {
 }
 
 // id is unused but nice to search code
-async function alert(id, title, message) {
+async function alert(id, title, message, options) {
     assert.strictEqual(typeof id, 'string');
     assert.strictEqual(typeof title, 'string');
     assert.strictEqual(typeof message, 'string');
+    assert.strictEqual(typeof options, 'object');
 
     const result = await getByTitle(title);
 
-    if (!result) {
-        return await add(title, message, { eventId: null });
-    } else {
-        await update(result, {
-            eventId: null,
-            title,
-            message,
-            acknowledged: false,
-            creationTime: new Date()
-        });
-        return result.id;
-    }
+    if (!result) return await add(title, message, { eventId: null });
+    if (!options.persist) return result.id;
+
+    await update(result, {
+        id: result.id,
+        eventId: null,
+        title,
+        message,
+        acknowledged: false,
+        creationTime: new Date()
+    });
+    return result.id;
 }
 
 // id is unused but nice to search code
diff --git a/src/routes/test/notifications-test.js b/src/routes/test/notifications-test.js
index 4f56a7838..0923e9698 100644
--- a/src/routes/test/notifications-test.js
+++ b/src/routes/test/notifications-test.js
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ describe('Notifications API', function () {
 
     it('can add notifications', async function () {
         for (let i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
-            const id = await notifications._add(null, `title ${i}`, `message ${i}`);
+            const id = await notifications._add(`title ${i}`, `message ${i}`, { eventId: null });
             notificationIds.push(id);
         }
     });
diff --git a/src/system.js b/src/system.js
index 757ab91e2..2cd6b4275 100644
--- a/src/system.js
+++ b/src/system.js
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ async function checkDiskSpace() {
 
     if (markdownMessage) markdownMessage = `One or more file systems are running out of space. Please increase the disk size at the earliest.\n\n${markdownMessage}`;
 
-    await notifications.alert(notifications.ALERT_DISK_SPACE, 'Server is running out of disk space', markdownMessage);
+    await notifications.alert(notifications.ALERT_DISK_SPACE, 'Server is running out of disk space', markdownMessage, { persist: true });
 }
 
 async function getSwapSize() {
diff --git a/src/test/eventlog-test.js b/src/test/eventlog-test.js
index 240f91268..6bd5a4223 100644
--- a/src/test/eventlog-test.js
+++ b/src/test/eventlog-test.js
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ describe('Eventlog', function () {
         for (const e of [ eventlog.ACTION_USER_LOGIN, eventlog.ACTION_USER_LOGIN_GHOST, eventlog.ACTION_USER_LOGOUT, eventlog.ACTION_USER_LOGIN ]) {
             const eventId = await eventlog.add(e, { ip: '1.2.3.4' }, { appId: 'thatapp' });
 
-            await notifications._add(eventId, 'title', 'some message');
+            await notifications._add('title', 'some message', { eventId });
         }
 
         await delay(3000);
diff --git a/src/test/notifications-test.js b/src/test/notifications-test.js
index 05ae8dc1d..1d60c5372 100644
--- a/src/test/notifications-test.js
+++ b/src/test/notifications-test.js
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ describe('Notifications', function () {
 
     it('can add notifications', async function () {
         for (let i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
-            const [error, id] = await safe(notifications._add(EVENT_0.id, `title ${i}`, `message ${i}`));
+            const [error, id] = await safe(notifications._add(`title ${i}`, `message ${i}`, { eventId: EVENT_0.id }));
             expect(error).to.equal(null);
             expect(id).to.be.a('string');
             notificationIds.push(id);
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ describe('Notifications', function () {
 
     let alertId;
     it('can add alert', async function () {
-        alertId = await notifications.alert(notifications.ALERT_BOX_UPDATE, 'Cloudron xx is available', 'Awesome changelog');
+        alertId = await notifications.alert(notifications.ALERT_BOX_UPDATE, 'Cloudron xx is available', 'Awesome changelog', { persist: true });
 
         const result = await notifications.get(alertId);
         expect(result.title).to.be('Cloudron xx is available');
@@ -93,10 +93,10 @@ describe('Notifications', function () {
         expect(result.acknowledged).to.be(false);
     });
 
-    it('can update the alert', async function () {
+    it('can update the alert (persist)', async function () {
         await notifications.update({ id: alertId }, { acknowledged: true }); // ack the alert
 
-        const id = await notifications.alert(notifications.ALERT_BOX_UPDATE, 'Cloudron xx is available', 'Awesome new changelog');
+        const id = await notifications.alert(notifications.ALERT_BOX_UPDATE, 'Cloudron xx is available', 'Awesome new changelog', { persist: true });
         expect(id).to.be(alertId);
 
         const result = await notifications.get(alertId);
@@ -105,6 +105,18 @@ describe('Notifications', function () {
         expect(result.acknowledged).to.be(false); // notification resurfaces
     });
 
+    it('can update the alert (non-persist)', async function () {
+        await notifications.update({ id: alertId }, { acknowledged: true }); // ack the alert
+
+        const id = await notifications.alert(notifications.ALERT_BOX_UPDATE, 'Cloudron xx is available', 'Awesome new changelog', { persist: false });
+        expect(id).to.be(alertId);
+
+        const result = await notifications.get(alertId);
+        expect(result.title).to.be('Cloudron xx is available');
+        expect(result.message).to.be('Awesome new changelog');
+        expect(result.acknowledged).to.be(true); // notification does not resurface
+    });
+
     it('can clear the alert', async function () {
         const id = await notifications.clearAlert(notifications.ALERT_BOX_UPDATE, 'Cloudron xx is available');
         expect(id).to.be(null);
diff --git a/src/updatechecker.js b/src/updatechecker.js
index 0cbb0a65b..fad1713df 100644
--- a/src/updatechecker.js
+++ b/src/updatechecker.js
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ async function checkBoxUpdates(options) {
     const changelog = updateInfo.changelog.map((m) => `* ${m}\n`).join('');
     const message = `Changelog:\n${changelog}\n\nGo to the settings view to update.\n\n`;
 
-    await notifications.alert(notifications.ALERT_BOX_UPDATE, `Cloudron v${updateInfo.version} is available`, message);
+    await notifications.alert(notifications.ALERT_BOX_UPDATE, `Cloudron v${updateInfo.version} is available`, message, { persist: false });
 
     state.box = updateInfo;
     setUpdateInfo(state);