diff --git a/lib/hypatia/cli.ex b/lib/hypatia/cli.ex
index 004be994..464e67ba 100644
--- a/lib/hypatia/cli.ex
+++ b/lib/hypatia/cli.ex
@@ -1027,7 +1027,7 @@ defmodule Hypatia.CLI do
                   reason: f.reason,
                   action: to_string(f.action)
                 }
-                |> Map.merge(Map.take(f, [:line, :category, :recipe_id, :fix_script, :target]))
+                |> Map.merge(Map.take(f, [:line, :category, :recipe_id, :fix_script, :target, :advisory]))
               end)
 
             results ++ normalized
diff --git a/lib/rules/structural_drift.ex b/lib/rules/structural_drift.ex
index fce5028a..b9305b02 100644
--- a/lib/rules/structural_drift.ex
+++ b/lib/rules/structural_drift.ex
@@ -143,8 +143,12 @@ defmodule Hypatia.Rules.StructuralDrift do
   SD004: Detect descriptile files outside their canonical location.
   Canonical location is .machine_readable/descriptiles/<file>.a2ml.
   The old .machine_readable/6a2/<file>.a2ml directory is retired.
-  Severity: critical.
-  Action: move to .machine_readable/descriptiles/.
+  Severity: medium. This is layout drift, not a security finding, so it
+  must not block a merge: a repository still on the old layout is not
+  unsafe. The finding is `advisory: true`, so the CLI never counts it
+  towards exit 1 at any threshold (as WF026, WF027). The current canon keeps the descriptiles as clauses of the repo
+  deed, and the A2ML-to-deed conversion is kyX's (standards D312, D313).
+  Action: move to .machine_readable/descriptiles/ (unchanged for fixers).
   """
   def sd004_misplaced_a2ml(repo_path) do
     @a2ml_state_files
@@ -161,8 +165,12 @@ defmodule Hypatia.Rules.StructuralDrift do
         %{
           rule: "SD004",
           file: Path.relative_to(path, repo_path),
-          severity: :critical,
-          reason: "Descriptile in retired location -- must be in .machine_readable/descriptiles/",
+          severity: :medium,
+          advisory: true,
+          reason:
+            "Descriptile in retired location (layout drift, not a security issue); " <>
+              "the current canon keeps descriptiles as clauses of the repo deed, " <>
+              "converted by kyX (standards D312, D313)",
           action: :move,
           target: ".machine_readable/descriptiles/#{a2ml_file}"
         }
diff --git a/test/cli_test.exs b/test/cli_test.exs
index 38c60911..fea5490f 100644
--- a/test/cli_test.exs
+++ b/test/cli_test.exs
@@ -188,6 +188,23 @@ defmodule Hypatia.CLITest do
       assert {[], []} = Hypatia.CLI.report_sets(wf027, %{@base | advisory: false})
       assert {^wf027, []} = Hypatia.CLI.report_sets(wf027, %{@base | advisory: true})
     end
+
+    test "SD004 survives the structural_drift normalizer and never blocks" do
+      dir = Path.join(System.tmp_dir!(), "hyp-sd004-#{:erlang.unique_integer([:positive])}")
+      File.mkdir_p!(Path.join(dir, ".machine_readable/6a2"))
+      on_exit(fn -> File.rm_rf!(dir) end)
+      File.write!(Path.join(dir, ".machine_readable/6a2/STATE.a2ml"), "[metadata]\n")
+
+      sd004 =
+        dir
+        |> Hypatia.CLI.collect_findings([:structural_drift])
+        |> Enum.filter(&(&1.type == "SD004"))
+
+      assert [%{advisory: true, severity: "medium"}] = sd004
+
+      # Shown at the default threshold, but not in the blocking set.
+      assert {^sd004, []} = Hypatia.CLI.report_sets(sd004, @base)
+    end
   end
 
   # Regression coverage for the placeholder-message defect.
diff --git a/test/structural_drift_test.exs b/test/structural_drift_test.exs
index 1b43057c..02b44fea 100644
--- a/test/structural_drift_test.exs
+++ b/test/structural_drift_test.exs
@@ -121,6 +121,11 @@ defmodule Hypatia.Rules.StructuralDriftTest do
       assert finding.file == ".machine_readable/6a2/STATE.a2ml"
       assert finding.target == ".machine_readable/descriptiles/STATE.a2ml"
       assert finding.reason =~ "retired location"
+      # Layout drift must not read as a blocking security finding.
+      assert finding.severity == :medium
+      assert finding.advisory == true
+      assert finding.reason =~ "not a security issue"
+      assert finding.reason =~ "deed"
     end
 
     test "accepts a descriptile in canonical descriptiles/", %{repo: repo} do