diff --git a/public/openapi/write/topics/tid/thumbs.yaml b/public/openapi/write/topics/tid/thumbs.yaml
index 133da0c20e..3817d2a5a3 100644
--- a/public/openapi/write/topics/tid/thumbs.yaml
+++ b/public/openapi/write/topics/tid/thumbs.yaml
@@ -11,6 +11,13 @@ get:
       required: true
       description: a valid topic id
       example: 1
+    - in: query
+      name: thumbsOnly
+      schema:
+        type: boolean
+      required: false
+      description: "(default: false) exclude post attachments, uploaded media, and those added by plugins"
+      example: 0
   responses:
     '200':
       description: Thumbnails successfully retrieved
diff --git a/public/src/modules/topicThumbs.js b/public/src/modules/topicThumbs.js
index 5495bad541..70c13218d3 100644
--- a/public/src/modules/topicThumbs.js
+++ b/public/src/modules/topicThumbs.js
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ define('topicThumbs', [
 ], function (api, bootbox, alerts, uploader, Benchpress, translator) {
 	const Thumbs = {};
 
-	Thumbs.get = id => api.get(`/topics/${id}/thumbs`, {});
+	Thumbs.get = id => api.get(`/topics/${id}/thumbs`, { thumbsOnly: 1 });
 
 	Thumbs.getByPid = pid => api.get(`/posts/${encodeURIComponent(pid)}`, {}).then(post => Thumbs.get(post.tid));
 
diff --git a/src/api/topics.js b/src/api/topics.js
index 72926ee525..10d1c4c10e 100644
--- a/src/api/topics.js
+++ b/src/api/topics.js
@@ -215,7 +215,7 @@ topicsAPI.deleteTags = async (caller, { tid }) => {
 	await topics.deleteTopicTags(tid);
 };
 
-topicsAPI.getThumbs = async (caller, { tid }) => {
+topicsAPI.getThumbs = async (caller, { tid, thumbsOnly }) => {
 	if (isFinite(tid)) { // post_uuids can be passed in occasionally, in that case no checks are necessary
 		const [exists, canRead] = await Promise.all([
 			topics.exists(tid),
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@ topicsAPI.getThumbs = async (caller, { tid }) => {
 		}
 	}
 
-	return await topics.thumbs.get(tid);
+	return await topics.thumbs.get(tid, { thumbsOnly });
 };
 
 // topicsAPI.addThumb
diff --git a/src/controllers/write/topics.js b/src/controllers/write/topics.js
index 700b08e21a..9c090105f9 100644
--- a/src/controllers/write/topics.js
+++ b/src/controllers/write/topics.js
@@ -127,7 +127,9 @@ Topics.deleteTags = async (req, res) => {
 };
 
 Topics.getThumbs = async (req, res) => {
-	helpers.formatApiResponse(200, res, await api.topics.getThumbs(req, { ...req.params }));
+	let { thumbsOnly } = req.query;
+	thumbsOnly = thumbsOnly ? !!parseInt(thumbsOnly, 10) : false;
+	helpers.formatApiResponse(200, res, await api.topics.getThumbs(req, { ...req.params, thumbsOnly }));
 };
 
 Topics.addThumb = async (req, res) => {
diff --git a/src/topics/thumbs.js b/src/topics/thumbs.js
index 0e857c1578..bea0b1292b 100644
--- a/src/topics/thumbs.js
+++ b/src/topics/thumbs.js
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ Thumbs.load = async function (topicData) {
 	return topicData.map(t => (t && t.tid ? (tidToThumbs[t.tid] || []) : []));
 };
 
-Thumbs.get = async function (tids) {
+Thumbs.get = async function (tids, options) {
 	// Allow singular or plural usage
 	let singular = false;
 	if (!Array.isArray(tids)) {
@@ -49,6 +49,12 @@ Thumbs.get = async function (tids) {
 		singular = true;
 	}
 
+	if (!options) {
+		options = {
+			thumbsOnly: false,
+		};
+	}
+
 	const isDraft = !await topics.exists(tids);
 
 	if (!meta.config.allowTopicsThumbnail || !tids.length) {
@@ -63,30 +69,32 @@ Thumbs.get = async function (tids) {
 	let mainPids = await topics.getTopicsFields(tids, ['mainPid']);
 	mainPids = mainPids.map(o => o.mainPid);
 
-	// Add uploaded media to thumb sets
-	const mainPidUploads = await Promise.all(mainPids.map(async pid => await posts.uploads.list(pid)));
-	mainPidUploads.forEach((uploads, idx) => {
-		uploads = uploads.map(path => `/${path}`);
-		uploads = uploads.filter(
-			upload => !thumbs[idx].includes(upload) && mime.getType(upload).startsWith('image/')
-		);
+	if (!options.thumbsOnly) {
+		// Add uploaded media to thumb sets
+		const mainPidUploads = await Promise.all(mainPids.map(async pid => await posts.uploads.list(pid)));
+		mainPidUploads.forEach((uploads, idx) => {
+			uploads = uploads.map(path => `/${path}`);
+			uploads = uploads.filter(
+				upload => !thumbs[idx].includes(upload) && mime.getType(upload).startsWith('image/')
+			);
 
-		if (uploads.length) {
-			thumbs[idx].push(...uploads);
-		}
-	});
+			if (uploads.length) {
+				thumbs[idx].push(...uploads);
+			}
+		});
 
-	// Add attachments to thumb sets
-	const mainPidAttachments = await posts.attachments.get(mainPids);
-	mainPidAttachments.forEach((attachments, idx) => {
-		attachments = attachments.filter(
-			attachment => !thumbs[idx].includes(attachment.url) && (attachment.mediaType && attachment.mediaType.startsWith('image/'))
-		);
+		// Add attachments to thumb sets
+		const mainPidAttachments = await posts.attachments.get(mainPids);
+		mainPidAttachments.forEach((attachments, idx) => {
+			attachments = attachments.filter(
+				attachment => !thumbs[idx].includes(attachment.url) && (attachment.mediaType && attachment.mediaType.startsWith('image/'))
+			);
 
-		if (attachments.length) {
-			thumbs[idx].push(...attachments.map(attachment => attachment.url));
-		}
-	});
+			if (attachments.length) {
+				thumbs[idx].push(...attachments.map(attachment => attachment.url));
+			}
+		});
+	}
 
 	let response = thumbs.map((thumbSet, idx) => thumbSet.map(thumb => ({
 		id: tids[idx],
@@ -98,7 +106,11 @@ Thumbs.get = async function (tids) {
 		url: thumb.startsWith('http') ? thumb : path.posix.join(upload_url, thumb.replace(/\\/g, '/')),
 	})));
 
-	({ thumbs: response } = await plugins.hooks.fire('filter:topics.getThumbs', { tids, thumbs: response }));
+	({ thumbs: response } = await plugins.hooks.fire('filter:topics.getThumbs', {
+		tids,
+		thumbsOnly: options.thumbsOnly,
+		thumbs: response,
+	}));
 	return singular ? response.pop() : response;
 };