diff --git a/selfdrive/ui/qt/home.cc b/selfdrive/ui/qt/home.cc
index fead4ae1b1..f10222efcd 100644
--- a/selfdrive/ui/qt/home.cc
+++ b/selfdrive/ui/qt/home.cc
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ void OffroadHome::refresh() {
   // update alerts
 
   alerts_widget->refresh();
-  if (!alerts_widget->alerts.size() && !alerts_widget->updateAvailable) {
+  if (!alerts_widget->alertCount && !alerts_widget->updateAvailable) {
     emit closeAlerts();
     alert_notification->setVisible(false);
     return;
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ void OffroadHome::refresh() {
   if (alerts_widget->updateAvailable) {
     alert_notification->setText("UPDATE");
   } else {
-    int alerts = alerts_widget->alerts.size();
+    int alerts = alerts_widget->alertCount;
     alert_notification->setText(QString::number(alerts) + " ALERT" + (alerts == 1 ? "" : "S"));
   }
 
diff --git a/selfdrive/ui/qt/widgets/offroad_alerts.cc b/selfdrive/ui/qt/widgets/offroad_alerts.cc
index cd1173722a..bb5f007027 100644
--- a/selfdrive/ui/qt/widgets/offroad_alerts.cc
+++ b/selfdrive/ui/qt/widgets/offroad_alerts.cc
@@ -1,47 +1,52 @@
-#include <QFile>
-#include <QLabel>
 #include <QVBoxLayout>
 #include <QHBoxLayout>
 #include <QJsonObject>
 #include <QJsonDocument>
-#include <QDebug>
 
 #include "offroad_alerts.hpp"
-#include "common/params.h"
 #include "selfdrive/hardware/hw.h"
-
-void cleanStackedWidget(QStackedWidget* swidget) {
-  while(swidget->count() > 0) {
-    QWidget *w = swidget->widget(0);
-    swidget->removeWidget(w);
-    w->deleteLater();
-  }
-}
+#include "selfdrive/common/util.h"
 
 OffroadAlert::OffroadAlert(QWidget* parent) : QFrame(parent) {
-  QVBoxLayout *main_layout = new QVBoxLayout();
-  main_layout->setMargin(25);
+  QVBoxLayout *layout = new QVBoxLayout();
+  layout->setMargin(50);
+
+  // setup labels for each alert
+  QString json = QString::fromStdString(util::read_file("../controls/lib/alerts_offroad.json"));
+  QJsonObject obj = QJsonDocument::fromJson(json.toUtf8()).object();
+  for (auto &k : obj.keys()) {
+    QLabel *l = new QLabel(this);
+    alerts[k.toStdString()] = l;
+    int severity = obj[k].toObject()["severity"].toInt();
+
+    l->setMargin(60);
+    l->setWordWrap(true);
+    l->setStyleSheet("background-color: " + QString(severity ? "#E22C2C" : "#292929"));
+    l->setVisible(false);
+    layout->addWidget(l);
+  }
 
-  alerts_stack = new QStackedWidget();
-  main_layout->addWidget(alerts_stack, 1);
+  // release notes
+  releaseNotes.setVisible(false);
+  releaseNotes.setStyleSheet("font-size: 48px;");
+  layout->addWidget(&releaseNotes);
 
-  // bottom footer
+  // bottom footer, dismiss + reboot buttons
   QHBoxLayout *footer_layout = new QHBoxLayout();
-  main_layout->addLayout(footer_layout);
+  layout->addLayout(footer_layout);
 
   QPushButton *dismiss_btn = new QPushButton("Dismiss");
   dismiss_btn->setFixedSize(400, 125);
-  footer_layout->addWidget(dismiss_btn, 0, Qt::AlignLeft);
-
-  reboot_btn = new QPushButton("Reboot and Update");
-  reboot_btn->setFixedSize(600, 125);
-  reboot_btn->setVisible(false);
-  footer_layout->addWidget(reboot_btn, 0, Qt::AlignRight);
-
+  footer_layout->addWidget(dismiss_btn, 0, Qt::AlignBottom | Qt::AlignLeft);
   QObject::connect(dismiss_btn, SIGNAL(released()), this, SIGNAL(closeAlerts()));
-  QObject::connect(reboot_btn, &QPushButton::released, [=]() { Hardware::reboot(); });
 
-  setLayout(main_layout);
+  rebootBtn.setText("Reboot and Update");
+  rebootBtn.setFixedSize(600, 125);
+  rebootBtn.setVisible(false);
+  footer_layout->addWidget(&rebootBtn, 0, Qt::AlignBottom | Qt::AlignRight);
+  QObject::connect(&rebootBtn, &QPushButton::released, [=]() { Hardware::reboot(); });
+
+  setLayout(layout);
   setStyleSheet(R"(
     * {
       font-size: 48px;
@@ -58,54 +63,33 @@ OffroadAlert::OffroadAlert(QWidget* parent) : QFrame(parent) {
       background-color: white;
     }
   )");
-  main_layout->setMargin(50);
 
-  QFile inFile("../controls/lib/alerts_offroad.json");
-  bool ret = inFile.open(QIODevice::ReadOnly | QIODevice::Text);
-  assert(ret);
-  QJsonDocument doc = QJsonDocument::fromJson(inFile.readAll());
-  assert(!doc.isNull());
-  alert_keys = doc.object().keys();
 }
 
 void OffroadAlert::refresh() {
-  parse_alerts();
-  cleanStackedWidget(alerts_stack);
-
-  updateAvailable = Params().read_db_bool("UpdateAvailable");
-  reboot_btn->setVisible(updateAvailable);
+  updateAlerts();
 
-  QVBoxLayout *layout = new QVBoxLayout;
-  layout->setSpacing(20);
+  rebootBtn.setVisible(updateAvailable);
+  releaseNotes.setVisible(updateAvailable);
+  releaseNotes.setText(QString::fromStdString(params.get("ReleaseNotes")));
 
-  if (updateAvailable) {
-    QLabel *body = new QLabel(QString::fromStdString(Params().get("ReleaseNotes")));
-    body->setStyleSheet(R"(font-size: 48px;)");
-    layout->addWidget(body, 0, Qt::AlignLeft | Qt::AlignTop);
-  } else {
-    for (const auto &alert : alerts) {
-      QLabel *l = new QLabel(alert.text);
-      l->setMargin(60);
-      l->setWordWrap(true);
-      l->setStyleSheet("background-color: " + QString(alert.severity ? "#E22C2C" : "#292929"));
-      layout->addWidget(l, 0, Qt::AlignTop);
-    }
+  for (const auto& [k, label] : alerts) {
+    label->setVisible(!updateAvailable && !label->text().isEmpty());
   }
-
-  QWidget *w = new QWidget();
-  w->setLayout(layout);
-  alerts_stack->addWidget(w);
 }
 
-void OffroadAlert::parse_alerts() {
-  alerts.clear();
-  for (const QString &key : alert_keys) {
-    std::vector<char> bytes = Params().read_db_bytes(key.toStdString().c_str());
+void OffroadAlert::updateAlerts() {
+  alertCount = 0;
+  updateAvailable = params.read_db_bool("UpdateAvailable");
+  for (const auto& [key, label] : alerts) {
+    auto bytes = params.read_db_bytes(key.c_str());
     if (bytes.size()) {
       QJsonDocument doc_par = QJsonDocument::fromJson(QByteArray(bytes.data(), bytes.size()));
       QJsonObject obj = doc_par.object();
-      Alert alert = {obj.value("text").toString(), obj.value("severity").toInt()};
-      alerts.push_back(alert);
+      label->setText(obj.value("text").toString());
+      alertCount++;
+    } else {
+      label->setText("");
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/selfdrive/ui/qt/widgets/offroad_alerts.hpp b/selfdrive/ui/qt/widgets/offroad_alerts.hpp
index ec48f89c7e..b05d68d334 100644
--- a/selfdrive/ui/qt/widgets/offroad_alerts.hpp
+++ b/selfdrive/ui/qt/widgets/offroad_alerts.hpp
@@ -1,28 +1,26 @@
 #pragma once
+#include <map>
 
 #include <QFrame>
-#include <QStackedWidget>
 #include <QPushButton>
-#include <QStringList>
+#include <QLabel>
 
-struct Alert {
-  QString text;
-  int severity;
-};
+#include "common/params.h"
 
 class OffroadAlert : public QFrame {
   Q_OBJECT
 
 public:
   explicit OffroadAlert(QWidget *parent = 0);
-  QVector<Alert> alerts;
-  QStringList alert_keys;
+  int alertCount = 0;
   bool updateAvailable;
 
 private:
-  QStackedWidget *alerts_stack;
-  QPushButton *reboot_btn;
-  void parse_alerts();
+  Params params;
+  QLabel releaseNotes;
+  std::map<std::string, QLabel*> alerts;
+  QPushButton rebootBtn;
+  void updateAlerts();
 
 signals:
   void closeAlerts();