diff --git a/rules/alerting.go b/rules/alerting.go
index b1fb72140..12a21ed76 100644
--- a/rules/alerting.go
+++ b/rules/alerting.go
@@ -105,12 +105,8 @@ type AlertingRule struct {
 	holdDuration time.Duration
 	// Extra labels to attach to the resulting alert sample vectors.
 	labels model.LabelSet
-	// Short alert summary, suitable for email subjects.
-	summary string
-	// More detailed alert description.
-	description string
-	// A reference to a runbook for the alert.
-	runbook string
+	// Non-identifying key/value pairs.
+	annotations model.LabelSet
 
 	// Protects the below.
 	mutex sync.Mutex
@@ -120,23 +116,13 @@ type AlertingRule struct {
 }
 
 // NewAlertingRule constructs a new AlertingRule.
-func NewAlertingRule(
-	name string,
-	vector promql.Expr,
-	holdDuration time.Duration,
-	labels model.LabelSet,
-	summary string,
-	description string,
-	runbook string,
-) *AlertingRule {
+func NewAlertingRule(name string, vec promql.Expr, hold time.Duration, lbls, anns model.LabelSet) *AlertingRule {
 	return &AlertingRule{
 		name:         name,
-		vector:       vector,
-		holdDuration: holdDuration,
-		labels:       labels,
-		summary:      summary,
-		description:  description,
-		runbook:      runbook,
+		vector:       vec,
+		holdDuration: hold,
+		labels:       lbls,
+		annotations:  anns,
 
 		activeAlerts: map[model.Fingerprint]*Alert{},
 	}
@@ -217,9 +203,9 @@ func (rule *AlertingRule) String() string {
 	if len(rule.labels) > 0 {
 		s += fmt.Sprintf("\n\tWITH %s", rule.labels)
 	}
-	s += fmt.Sprintf("\n\tSUMMARY %q", rule.summary)
-	s += fmt.Sprintf("\n\tDESCRIPTION %q", rule.description)
-	s += fmt.Sprintf("\n\tRUNBOOK %q", rule.runbook)
+	if len(rule.annotations) > 0 {
+		s += fmt.Sprintf("\n\tANNOTATIONS %s", rule.annotations)
+	}
 	return s
 }
 
@@ -239,9 +225,9 @@ func (rule *AlertingRule) HTMLSnippet(pathPrefix string) template.HTML {
 	if len(rule.labels) > 0 {
 		s += fmt.Sprintf("\n  WITH %s", rule.labels)
 	}
-	s += fmt.Sprintf("\n  SUMMARY %q", rule.summary)
-	s += fmt.Sprintf("\n  DESCRIPTION %q", rule.description)
-	s += fmt.Sprintf("\n  RUNBOOK %q", rule.runbook)
+	if len(rule.annotations) > 0 {
+		s += fmt.Sprintf("\n  ANNOTATIONS %s", rule.annotations)
+	}
 	return template.HTML(s)
 }
 
diff --git a/rules/manager.go b/rules/manager.go
index 18dc62fba..d226f6b69 100644
--- a/rules/manager.go
+++ b/rules/manager.go
@@ -208,23 +208,22 @@ func (m *Manager) sendAlertNotifications(rule *AlertingRule, timestamp model.Tim
 		// who are not used to Go's templating system.
 		defs := "{{$labels := .Labels}}{{$value := .Value}}"
 
-		expand := func(text string) string {
-			tmpl := template.NewTemplateExpander(defs+text, "__alert_"+rule.Name(), tmplData, timestamp, m.queryEngine, m.externalURL.Path)
+		expand := func(text model.LabelValue) model.LabelValue {
+			tmpl := template.NewTemplateExpander(defs+string(text), "__alert_"+rule.Name(), tmplData, timestamp, m.queryEngine, m.externalURL.Path)
 			result, err := tmpl.Expand()
 			if err != nil {
 				result = err.Error()
 				log.Warnf("Error expanding alert template %v with data '%v': %v", rule.Name(), tmplData, err)
 			}
-			return result
+			return model.LabelValue(result)
 		}
 
 		labels := aa.Labels.Clone()
 		labels[model.AlertNameLabel] = model.LabelValue(rule.Name())
 
-		annotations := model.LabelSet{
-			"summary":     model.LabelValue(expand(rule.summary)),
-			"description": model.LabelValue(expand(rule.description)),
-			"runbook":     model.LabelValue(expand(rule.runbook)),
+		annotations := rule.annotations.Clone()
+		for an, av := range rule.annotations {
+			annotations[an] = expand(av)
 		}
 
 		alerts = append(alerts, &model.Alert{
@@ -359,7 +358,7 @@ func (m *Manager) loadRuleFiles(filenames ...string) error {
 		for _, stmt := range stmts {
 			switch r := stmt.(type) {
 			case *promql.AlertStmt:
-				rule := NewAlertingRule(r.Name, r.Expr, r.Duration, r.Labels, r.Summary, r.Description, r.Runbook)
+				rule := NewAlertingRule(r.Name, r.Expr, r.Duration, r.Labels, r.Annotations)
 				m.rules = append(m.rules, rule)
 			case *promql.RecordStmt:
 				rule := NewRecordingRule(r.Name, r.Expr, r.Labels)
diff --git a/rules/manager_test.go b/rules/manager_test.go
index 45d3ae3c4..621986877 100644
--- a/rules/manager_test.go
+++ b/rules/manager_test.go
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ func TestAlertingRule(t *testing.T) {
 		expr,
 		time.Minute,
 		model.LabelSet{"severity": "critical"},
-		"summary", "description", "runbook",
+		model.LabelSet{},
 	)
 
 	var tests = []struct {