diff --git a/libs/pageserver_api/src/models.rs b/libs/pageserver_api/src/models.rs
index c9be53f0b0..45abda0ad8 100644
--- a/libs/pageserver_api/src/models.rs
+++ b/libs/pageserver_api/src/models.rs
@@ -37,14 +37,11 @@ use bytes::{Buf, BufMut, Bytes, BytesMut};
 /// ```mermaid
 /// stateDiagram-v2
 ///
-///     [*] --> Loading: spawn_load()
 ///     [*] --> Attaching: spawn_attach()
 ///
-///     Loading --> Activating: activate()
 ///     Attaching --> Activating: activate()
 ///     Activating --> Active: infallible
 ///
-///     Loading --> Broken: load() failure
 ///     Attaching --> Broken: attach() failure
 ///
 ///     Active --> Stopping: set_stopping(), part of shutdown & detach
@@ -68,10 +65,6 @@ use bytes::{Buf, BufMut, Bytes, BytesMut};
 )]
 #[serde(tag = "slug", content = "data")]
 pub enum TenantState {
-    /// This tenant is being loaded from local disk.
-    ///
-    /// `set_stopping()` and `set_broken()` do not work in this state and wait for it to pass.
-    Loading,
     /// This tenant is being attached to the pageserver.
     ///
     /// `set_stopping()` and `set_broken()` do not work in this state and wait for it to pass.
@@ -121,8 +114,6 @@ impl TenantState {
             // But, our attach task might still be fetching the remote timelines, etc.
             // So, return `Maybe` while Attaching, making Console wait for the attach task to finish.
             Self::Attaching | Self::Activating(ActivatingFrom::Attaching) => Maybe,
-            // tenant mgr startup distinguishes attaching from loading via marker file.
-            Self::Loading | Self::Activating(ActivatingFrom::Loading) => Attached,
             // We only reach Active after successful load / attach.
             // So, call atttachment status Attached.
             Self::Active => Attached,
@@ -191,10 +182,11 @@ impl LsnLease {
 }
 
 /// The only [`TenantState`] variants we could be `TenantState::Activating` from.
+///
+/// XXX: We used to have more variants here, but now it's just one, which makes this rather
+/// useless. Remove, once we've checked that there's no client code left that looks at this.
 #[derive(Clone, Copy, Debug, PartialEq, Eq, serde::Serialize, serde::Deserialize)]
 pub enum ActivatingFrom {
-    /// Arrived to [`TenantState::Activating`] from [`TenantState::Loading`]
-    Loading,
     /// Arrived to [`TenantState::Activating`] from [`TenantState::Attaching`]
     Attaching,
 }
@@ -1562,11 +1554,8 @@ mod tests {
 
     #[test]
     fn tenantstatus_activating_serde() {
-        let states = [
-            TenantState::Activating(ActivatingFrom::Loading),
-            TenantState::Activating(ActivatingFrom::Attaching),
-        ];
-        let expected = "[{\"slug\":\"Activating\",\"data\":\"Loading\"},{\"slug\":\"Activating\",\"data\":\"Attaching\"}]";
+        let states = [TenantState::Activating(ActivatingFrom::Attaching)];
+        let expected = "[{\"slug\":\"Activating\",\"data\":\"Attaching\"}]";
 
         let actual = serde_json::to_string(&states).unwrap();
 
@@ -1581,13 +1570,7 @@ mod tests {
     fn tenantstatus_activating_strum() {
         // tests added, because we use these for metrics
         let examples = [
-            (line!(), TenantState::Loading, "Loading"),
             (line!(), TenantState::Attaching, "Attaching"),
-            (
-                line!(),
-                TenantState::Activating(ActivatingFrom::Loading),
-                "Activating",
-            ),
             (
                 line!(),
                 TenantState::Activating(ActivatingFrom::Attaching),
diff --git a/pageserver/src/tenant.rs b/pageserver/src/tenant.rs
index 5ed63734f4..53cbaea621 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/tenant.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/tenant.rs
@@ -1968,9 +1968,6 @@ impl Tenant {
                 TenantState::Activating(_) | TenantState::Active | TenantState::Broken { .. } | TenantState::Stopping { .. } => {
                     panic!("caller is responsible for calling activate() only on Loading / Attaching tenants, got {state:?}", state = current_state);
                 }
-                TenantState::Loading => {
-                    *current_state = TenantState::Activating(ActivatingFrom::Loading);
-                }
                 TenantState::Attaching => {
                     *current_state = TenantState::Activating(ActivatingFrom::Attaching);
                 }
@@ -2151,7 +2148,7 @@ impl Tenant {
     async fn set_stopping(
         &self,
         progress: completion::Barrier,
-        allow_transition_from_loading: bool,
+        _allow_transition_from_loading: bool,
         allow_transition_from_attaching: bool,
     ) -> Result<(), SetStoppingError> {
         let mut rx = self.state.subscribe();
@@ -2166,7 +2163,6 @@ impl Tenant {
                 );
                 false
             }
-            TenantState::Loading => allow_transition_from_loading,
             TenantState::Active | TenantState::Broken { .. } | TenantState::Stopping { .. } => true,
         })
         .await
@@ -2185,13 +2181,6 @@ impl Tenant {
                 *current_state = TenantState::Stopping { progress };
                 true
             }
-            TenantState::Loading => {
-                if !allow_transition_from_loading {
-                    unreachable!("3we ensured above that we're done with activation, and, there is no re-activation")
-                };
-                *current_state = TenantState::Stopping { progress };
-                true
-            }
             TenantState::Active => {
                 // FIXME: due to time-of-check vs time-of-use issues, it can happen that new timelines
                 // are created after the transition to Stopping. That's harmless, as the Timelines
@@ -2247,7 +2236,7 @@ impl Tenant {
         // The load & attach routines own the tenant state until it has reached `Active`.
         // So, wait until it's done.
         rx.wait_for(|state| match state {
-            TenantState::Activating(_) | TenantState::Loading | TenantState::Attaching => {
+            TenantState::Activating(_) | TenantState::Attaching => {
                 info!(
                     "waiting for {} to turn Active|Broken|Stopping",
                     <&'static str>::from(state)
@@ -2267,7 +2256,7 @@ impl Tenant {
         let reason = reason.to_string();
         self.state.send_modify(|current_state| {
             match *current_state {
-                TenantState::Activating(_) | TenantState::Loading | TenantState::Attaching => {
+                TenantState::Activating(_) | TenantState::Attaching => {
                     unreachable!("we ensured above that we're done with activation, and, there is no re-activation")
                 }
                 TenantState::Active => {
@@ -2311,7 +2300,7 @@ impl Tenant {
         loop {
             let current_state = receiver.borrow_and_update().clone();
             match current_state {
-                TenantState::Loading | TenantState::Attaching | TenantState::Activating(_) => {
+                TenantState::Attaching | TenantState::Activating(_) => {
                     // in these states, there's a chance that we can reach ::Active
                     self.activate_now();
                     match timeout_cancellable(timeout, &self.cancel, receiver.changed()).await {
@@ -4144,7 +4133,7 @@ pub(crate) mod harness {
             let walredo_mgr = Arc::new(WalRedoManager::from(TestRedoManager));
 
             let tenant = Arc::new(Tenant::new(
-                TenantState::Loading,
+                TenantState::Attaching,
                 self.conf,
                 AttachedTenantConf::try_from(LocationConf::attached_single(
                     TenantConfOpt::from(self.tenant_conf.clone()),