diff --git a/docs/CHANGELOG.md b/docs/CHANGELOG.md
index 88eac3191..60f50c545 100644
--- a/docs/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/docs/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -68,7 +68,6 @@ The sandbox cluster installation is running under the constant load generated by
 * BUGFIX: [vmagent](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/vmagent.html): properly assume role with [AWS IRSA authorization](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/eks/latest/userguide/iam-roles-for-service-accounts.html). Previously role chaining was not supported. See [this issue](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/3822) for details.
 * BUGFIX: [vmagent](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/vmagent.html): exit if there is config syntax error in [`scrape_config_files`](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/vmagent.html#loading-scrape-configs-from-multiple-files) when `-promscrape.config.strictParse=true`. See [this issue](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/5508).
 * BUGFIX: [vmagent](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/vmagent.html): properly discover targets for `role: endpoints` and `role: endpointslice` in [kubernetes_sd_configs](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/sd_configs.html#kubernetes_sd_configs). Previously some `endpoints` and `endpointslice` targets could be left undiscovered or some targets could have missing `__meta_*` labels when performing service discovery in busy Kubernetes clusters with large number of pods. See [this pull request](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/pull/5557).
-* BUGFIX: [vmagent](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/vmagent.html): do not store scrape response for target in memory when staleness markers are disabled. See [this pull request](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/pull/5577) for details.
 * BUGFIX: [vmui](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/#vmui): fix a link for the statistic inaccuracy explanation in the cardinality explorer tool. See [this issue](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/5460).
 * BUGFIX: [vmui](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/#vmui): send `step` param for instant queries. The change reverts [this issue](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/3896) due to reasons explained in [this comment](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/3896#issuecomment-1896704401).
 * BUGFIX: all: fix potential panic during components shutdown when [metrics push](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/#push-metrics) is configured. See [this issue](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/5548). Thanks to @zhdd99 for the [pull request](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/pull/5549).
diff --git a/lib/promscrape/scrapework.go b/lib/promscrape/scrapework.go
index 3fe5c4d43..2bb3846c1 100644
--- a/lib/promscrape/scrapework.go
+++ b/lib/promscrape/scrapework.go
@@ -337,13 +337,11 @@ func (sw *scrapeWork) run(stopCh <-chan struct{}, globalStopCh <-chan struct{})
 				// Do not send staleness markers on graceful shutdown as Prometheus does.
 				// See https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/2013#issuecomment-1006994079
 			default:
-				if !sw.Config.NoStaleMarkers {
-					// Send staleness markers to all the metrics scraped last time from the target
-					// when the given target disappears as Prometheus does.
-					// Use the current real timestamp for staleness markers, so queries
-					// stop returning data just after the time the target disappears.
-					sw.sendStaleSeries(lastScrape, "", t, true)
-				}
+				// Send staleness markers to all the metrics scraped last time from the target
+				// when the given target disappears as Prometheus does.
+				// Use the current real timestamp for staleness markers, so queries
+				// stop returning data just after the time the target disappears.
+				sw.sendStaleSeries(lastScrape, "", t, true)
 			}
 			if sw.seriesLimiter != nil {
 				sw.seriesLimiter.MustStop()
@@ -489,8 +487,7 @@ func (sw *scrapeWork) processScrapedData(scrapeTimestamp, realTimestamp int64, b
 		bodyString = ""
 	}
 	seriesAdded := 0
-	// cannot track the number of new time series when stale markers are disabled.
-	if !sw.Config.NoStaleMarkers && !areIdenticalSeries {
+	if !areIdenticalSeries {
 		// The returned value for seriesAdded may be bigger than the real number of added series
 		// if some series were removed during relabeling.
 		// This is a trade-off between performance and accuracy.
@@ -520,7 +517,7 @@ func (sw *scrapeWork) processScrapedData(scrapeTimestamp, realTimestamp int64, b
 		writeRequestCtxPool.Put(wc)
 	}
 	// body must be released only after wc is released, since wc refers to body.
-	if !sw.Config.NoStaleMarkers && !areIdenticalSeries {
+	if !areIdenticalSeries {
 		// Send stale markers for disappeared metrics with the real scrape timestamp
 		// in order to guarantee that query doesn't return data after this time for the disappeared metrics.
 		sw.sendStaleSeries(lastScrape, bodyString, realTimestamp, false)
@@ -630,8 +627,7 @@ func (sw *scrapeWork) scrapeStream(scrapeTimestamp, realTimestamp int64) error {
 		scrapesFailed.Inc()
 	}
 	seriesAdded := 0
-	// cannot track the number of new time series when stale markers are disabled.
-	if !sw.Config.NoStaleMarkers && !areIdenticalSeries {
+	if !areIdenticalSeries {
 		// The returned value for seriesAdded may be bigger than the real number of added series
 		// if some series were removed during relabeling.
 		// This is a trade-off between performance and accuracy.
@@ -651,7 +647,7 @@ func (sw *scrapeWork) scrapeStream(scrapeTimestamp, realTimestamp int64) error {
 	sw.prevBodyLen = sbr.bodyLen
 	wc.reset()
 	writeRequestCtxPool.Put(wc)
-	if !sw.Config.NoStaleMarkers && !areIdenticalSeries {
+	if !areIdenticalSeries {
 		// Send stale markers for disappeared metrics with the real scrape timestamp
 		// in order to guarantee that query doesn't return data after this time for the disappeared metrics.
 		sw.sendStaleSeries(lastScrape, bodyString, realTimestamp, false)
@@ -790,6 +786,9 @@ func (sw *scrapeWork) sendStaleSeries(lastScrape, currScrape string, timestamp i
 	defer func() {
 		<-sendStaleSeriesConcurrencyLimitCh
 	}()
+	if sw.Config.NoStaleMarkers {
+		return
+	}
 	bodyString := lastScrape
 	if currScrape != "" {
 		bodyString = parser.GetRowsDiff(lastScrape, currScrape)