diff --git a/internal/config/application.go b/internal/config/application.go
index adb53fc2731..80573c72d69 100644
--- a/internal/config/application.go
+++ b/internal/config/application.go
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ func (cfg *Application) parseLogLevelOption() error {
 			cfg.Verbosity = 1
 		}
 	default:
-		cfg.Log.LevelOpt = logrus.InfoLevel
+		cfg.Log.LevelOpt = logrus.WarnLevel
 	}
 
 	if cfg.Log.Level == "" {
diff --git a/syft/source/directory_resolver.go b/syft/source/directory_resolver.go
index d3ffabc2217..be90dd82a26 100644
--- a/syft/source/directory_resolver.go
+++ b/syft/source/directory_resolver.go
@@ -338,7 +338,7 @@ func (r directoryResolver) FilesByPath(userPaths ...string) ([]Location, error)
 		// we should be resolving symlinks and preserving this information as a VirtualPath to the real file
 		evaluatedPath, err := filepath.EvalSymlinks(userStrPath)
 		if err != nil {
-			log.Warnf("directory resolver unable to evaluate symlink for path=%q : %+v", userPath, err)
+			log.Debugf("directory resolver unable to evaluate symlink for path=%q : %+v", userPath, err)
 			continue
 		}