diff --git a/api_tests/src/image.spec.ts b/api_tests/src/image.spec.ts
index 055c498e0..011a13a65 100644
--- a/api_tests/src/image.spec.ts
+++ b/api_tests/src/image.spec.ts
@@ -27,9 +27,9 @@ import {
   setupLogins,
   waitForPost,
   unfollows,
-  editPostThumbnail,
   getPost,
   waitUntil,
+  randomString,
 } from "./shared";
 const downloadFileSync = require("download-file-sync");
 
@@ -268,6 +268,10 @@ test("Make regular post, and give it a custom thumbnail", async () => {
     alphaImage,
     community.community_view.community.id,
     wikipediaUrl,
+    randomString(10),
+    randomString(5),
+    randomString(10),
+    upload1.url!
   );
 
   // Wait for the metadata to get fetched, since this is backgrounded now
@@ -278,14 +282,6 @@ test("Make regular post, and give it a custom thumbnail", async () => {
   expect(post.post_view.post.url).toBe(wikipediaUrl);
   expect(post.post_view.post.thumbnail_url).toBeDefined();
 
-  // Edit the thumbnail
-  await editPostThumbnail(alphaImage, post.post_view.post, upload1.url!);
-
-  post = await waitUntil(
-    () => getPost(alphaImage, post.post_view.post.id),
-    p => p.post_view.post.thumbnail_url == upload1.url,
-  );
-
   // Make sure the thumbnail got edited.
   expect(post.post_view.post.thumbnail_url).toBe(upload1.url);
 });
@@ -303,23 +299,17 @@ test("Create an image post, and make sure a custom thumbnail doesnt overwrite it
 
   const community = await createCommunity(alphaImage);
 
-  let post = await createPost(
+  const post = await createPost(
     alphaImage,
     community.community_view.community.id,
     upload1.url,
+    "https://example.com/",
+    randomString(10),
+    randomString(5),
+    upload2.url!
   );
   expect(post.post_view.post.url).toBe(upload1.url);
-
-  // Edit the post
-  await editPostThumbnail(alphaImage, post.post_view.post, upload2.url!);
-
-  // Wait for the metadata to get fetched
-  post = await waitUntil(
-    () => getPost(alphaImage, post.post_view.post.id),
-    p => p.post_view.post.thumbnail_url == upload1.url,
-  );
-
   // Make sure the new custom thumbnail is ignored, and doesn't overwrite the image post
   expect(post.post_view.post.url).toBe(upload1.url);
-  expect(post.post_view.post.thumbnail_url).toBe(upload1.url);
+  expect(post.post_view.post.thumbnail_url).toBe(post.post_view.post.thumbnail_url);
 });
diff --git a/api_tests/src/shared.ts b/api_tests/src/shared.ts
index e363fffa4..600fb67a6 100644
--- a/api_tests/src/shared.ts
+++ b/api_tests/src/shared.ts
@@ -203,6 +203,7 @@ export async function createPost(
   // use example.com for consistent title and embed description
   name: string = randomString(5),
   alt_text = randomString(10),
+  custom_thumbnail: string | undefined = undefined,
 ): Promise<PostResponse> {
   let form: CreatePost = {
     name,
@@ -210,6 +211,7 @@ export async function createPost(
     body,
     alt_text,
     community_id,
+    custom_thumbnail,
   };
   return api.createPost(form);
 }
@@ -226,18 +228,6 @@ export async function editPost(
   return api.editPost(form);
 }
 
-export async function editPostThumbnail(
-  api: LemmyHttp,
-  post: Post,
-  customThumbnail: string,
-): Promise<PostResponse> {
-  let form: EditPost = {
-    post_id: post.id,
-    custom_thumbnail: customThumbnail,
-  };
-  return api.editPost(form);
-}
-
 export async function deletePost(
   api: LemmyHttp,
   deleted: boolean,
diff --git a/crates/api/src/post/get_link_metadata.rs b/crates/api/src/post/get_link_metadata.rs
index 8bc425125..17346790a 100644
--- a/crates/api/src/post/get_link_metadata.rs
+++ b/crates/api/src/post/get_link_metadata.rs
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ pub async fn get_link_metadata(
   data: Query<GetSiteMetadata>,
   context: Data<LemmyContext>,
 ) -> LemmyResult<Json<GetSiteMetadataResponse>> {
-  let metadata = fetch_link_metadata(&data.url, false, &context).await?;
+  let metadata = fetch_link_metadata(&data.url, &context).await?;
 
   Ok(Json(GetSiteMetadataResponse { metadata }))
 }
diff --git a/crates/api_common/src/post.rs b/crates/api_common/src/post.rs
index 4993fc6e5..49327dac1 100644
--- a/crates/api_common/src/post.rs
+++ b/crates/api_common/src/post.rs
@@ -270,8 +270,6 @@ pub struct LinkMetadata {
   #[serde(flatten)]
   pub opengraph_data: OpenGraphData,
   pub content_type: Option<String>,
-  #[serde(skip)]
-  pub thumbnail: Option<DbUrl>,
 }
 
 #[skip_serializing_none]
diff --git a/crates/api_common/src/request.rs b/crates/api_common/src/request.rs
index 912fbc67e..bc65c0864 100644
--- a/crates/api_common/src/request.rs
+++ b/crates/api_common/src/request.rs
@@ -42,11 +42,7 @@ pub fn client_builder(settings: &Settings) -> ClientBuilder {
 
 /// Fetches metadata for the given link and optionally generates thumbnail.
 #[tracing::instrument(skip_all)]
-pub async fn fetch_link_metadata(
-  url: &Url,
-  generate_thumbnail: bool,
-  context: &LemmyContext,
-) -> LemmyResult<LinkMetadata> {
+pub async fn fetch_link_metadata(url: &Url, context: &LemmyContext) -> LemmyResult<LinkMetadata> {
   info!("Fetching site metadata for url: {}", url);
   let response = context.client().get(url.as_str()).send().await?;
 
@@ -63,71 +59,61 @@ pub async fn fetch_link_metadata(
   let opengraph_data = extract_opengraph_data(&html_bytes, url)
     .map_err(|e| info!("{e}"))
     .unwrap_or_default();
-  let thumbnail =
-    extract_thumbnail_from_opengraph_data(url, &opengraph_data, generate_thumbnail, context).await;
-
   Ok(LinkMetadata {
     opengraph_data,
     content_type: content_type.map(|c| c.to_string()),
-    thumbnail,
   })
 }
 
-#[tracing::instrument(skip_all)]
-pub async fn fetch_link_metadata_opt(
-  url: Option<&Url>,
-  generate_thumbnail: bool,
-  context: &LemmyContext,
-) -> LinkMetadata {
-  match &url {
-    Some(url) => fetch_link_metadata(url, generate_thumbnail, context)
-      .await
-      .unwrap_or_default(),
-    _ => Default::default(),
-  }
-}
 /// Generate post thumbnail in background task, because some sites can be very slow to respond.
 ///
 /// Takes a callback to generate a send activity task, so that post can be federated with metadata.
+///
+/// TODO: `federated_thumbnail` param can be removed once we federate full metadata and can
+///       write it to db directly, without calling this function.
+///       https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/4598
 pub fn generate_post_link_metadata(
   post: Post,
   custom_thumbnail: Option<Url>,
+  federated_thumbnail: Option<Url>,
   send_activity: impl FnOnce(Post) -> Option<SendActivityData> + Send + 'static,
   local_site: Option<LocalSite>,
   context: Data<LemmyContext>,
 ) {
   spawn_try_task(async move {
-    // Decide if the thumbnail should be generated
-    let allow_sensitive = local_site_opt_to_sensitive(&local_site);
-    let page_is_sensitive = post.nsfw;
-    let allow_generate_thumbnail = allow_sensitive || !page_is_sensitive;
-    let do_generate_thumbnail =
-      allow_generate_thumbnail && custom_thumbnail.is_none() && post.thumbnail_url.is_none();
-
-    // Generate local thumbnail only if no thumbnail was federated and 'sensitive' attributes allow it.
-    let metadata = fetch_link_metadata_opt(
-      post.url.as_ref().map(DbUrl::inner),
-      do_generate_thumbnail,
-      &context,
-    )
-    .await;
-
-    // If its an image post, it needs to overwrite the thumbnail, and take precedence
-    let image_url = if metadata
-      .content_type
-      .as_ref()
-      .is_some_and(|content_type| content_type.starts_with("image"))
-    {
-      post.url.map(Into::into)
-    } else {
-      None
+    let metadata = match &post.url {
+      Some(url) => fetch_link_metadata(url, &context).await.unwrap_or_default(),
+      _ => Default::default(),
     };
 
-    // Build the thumbnail url based on either the post image url, custom thumbnail, metadata fetch, or existing thumbnail.
-    let thumbnail_url = image_url
-      .or(custom_thumbnail)
-      .or(metadata.thumbnail.map(Into::into))
-      .or(post.thumbnail_url.map(Into::into));
+    let is_image_post = metadata
+      .content_type
+      .as_ref()
+      .is_some_and(|content_type| content_type.starts_with("image"));
+
+    // Decide if we are allowed to generate local thumbnail
+    let allow_sensitive = local_site_opt_to_sensitive(&local_site);
+    let allow_generate_thumbnail = allow_sensitive || !post.nsfw;
+
+    // Use custom thumbnail if available and its not an image post
+    let thumbnail_url = if !is_image_post && custom_thumbnail.is_some() {
+      custom_thumbnail
+    }
+    // Use federated thumbnail if available
+    else if federated_thumbnail.is_some() {
+      federated_thumbnail
+    }
+    // Generate local thumbnail if allowed and post.url is Some
+    else if let (true, Some(url)) = (allow_generate_thumbnail, &post.url) {
+      generate_pictrs_thumbnail(url, &context)
+        .await
+        .ok()
+        .map(Into::into)
+    }
+    // Otherwise use opengraph preview image directly
+    else {
+      metadata.opengraph_data.image.map(Into::into)
+    };
 
     // Proxy the image fetch if necessary
     let proxied_thumbnail_url = proxy_image_link_opt_apub(thumbnail_url, &context).await?;
@@ -213,28 +199,6 @@ fn extract_opengraph_data(html_bytes: &[u8], url: &Url) -> LemmyResult<OpenGraph
   })
 }
 
-#[tracing::instrument(skip_all)]
-pub async fn extract_thumbnail_from_opengraph_data(
-  url: &Url,
-  opengraph_data: &OpenGraphData,
-  generate_thumbnail: bool,
-  context: &LemmyContext,
-) -> Option<DbUrl> {
-  if generate_thumbnail {
-    let image_url = opengraph_data
-      .image
-      .as_ref()
-      .map(DbUrl::inner)
-      .unwrap_or(url);
-    generate_pictrs_thumbnail(image_url, context)
-      .await
-      .ok()
-      .map(Into::into)
-  } else {
-    opengraph_data.image.clone()
-  }
-}
-
 #[derive(Deserialize, Debug)]
 struct PictrsResponse {
   files: Vec<PictrsFile>,
@@ -414,9 +378,7 @@ mod tests {
   async fn test_link_metadata() {
     let context = LemmyContext::init_test_context().await;
     let sample_url = Url::parse("https://gitlab.com/IzzyOnDroid/repo/-/wikis/FAQ").unwrap();
-    let sample_res = fetch_link_metadata(&sample_url, false, &context)
-      .await
-      .unwrap();
+    let sample_res = fetch_link_metadata(&sample_url, &context).await.unwrap();
     assert_eq!(
       Some("FAQ · Wiki · IzzyOnDroid / repo · GitLab".to_string()),
       sample_res.opengraph_data.title
@@ -438,17 +400,8 @@ mod tests {
       Some(mime::TEXT_HTML_UTF_8.to_string()),
       sample_res.content_type
     );
-    assert!(sample_res.thumbnail.is_some());
   }
 
-  // #[test]
-  // fn test_pictshare() {
-  //   let res = fetch_pictshare("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/27/The_Mandalorian_logo.jpg");
-  //   assert!(res.is_ok());
-  //   let res_other = fetch_pictshare("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/27/The_Mandalorian_logo.jpgaoeu");
-  //   assert!(res_other.is_err());
-  // }
-
   #[test]
   fn test_resolve_image_url() {
     // url that lists the opengraph fields
diff --git a/crates/api_crud/src/post/create.rs b/crates/api_crud/src/post/create.rs
index cea0d5a31..ebe954907 100644
--- a/crates/api_crud/src/post/create.rs
+++ b/crates/api_crud/src/post/create.rs
@@ -157,6 +157,7 @@ pub async fn create_post(
   generate_post_link_metadata(
     updated_post.clone(),
     custom_thumbnail,
+    None,
     |post| Some(SendActivityData::CreatePost(post)),
     Some(local_site),
     context.reset_request_count(),
diff --git a/crates/api_crud/src/post/update.rs b/crates/api_crud/src/post/update.rs
index 48a1b6523..1bda52e13 100644
--- a/crates/api_crud/src/post/update.rs
+++ b/crates/api_crud/src/post/update.rs
@@ -116,6 +116,7 @@ pub async fn update_post(
   generate_post_link_metadata(
     updated_post.clone(),
     custom_thumbnail,
+    None,
     |post| Some(SendActivityData::UpdatePost(post)),
     Some(local_site),
     context.reset_request_count(),
diff --git a/crates/apub/src/objects/post.rs b/crates/apub/src/objects/post.rs
index ba1e3f6a1..3f471eb10 100644
--- a/crates/apub/src/objects/post.rs
+++ b/crates/apub/src/objects/post.rs
@@ -276,6 +276,7 @@ impl Object for ApubPost {
 
     generate_post_link_metadata(
       post.clone(),
+      None,
       page.image.map(|i| i.url),
       |_| None,
       local_site,