diff --git a/cmd/provider/main.go b/cmd/provider/main.go
index 994f71c5..3ade5a9d 100644
--- a/cmd/provider/main.go
+++ b/cmd/provider/main.go
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
 
 	"github.com/alecthomas/kingpin/v2"
+	"github.com/go-logr/logr"
 	apiextensionsv1 "k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/apis/apiextensions/v1"
 	clientgoscheme "k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes/scheme"
 	ctrl "sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime"
@@ -62,11 +63,16 @@ func main() {
 
 	zl := zap.New(zap.UseDevMode(*debug))
 	log := logging.NewLogrLogger(zl.WithName("provider-sql"))
+
+	// controller-runtime leaves its root logger unset by default and emits a
+	// "log.SetLogger(...) was never called" warning (with a stack trace) on
+	// every reconcile when it is never set. It is also very verbose even at
+	// info level, so in non-debug mode we point it at a discard logger to keep
+	// the previous quiet behaviour while still satisfying controller-runtime.
 	if *debug {
-		// The controller-runtime runs with a no-op logger by default. It is
-		// *very* verbose even at info level, so we only provide it a real
-		// logger when we're running in debug mode.
 		ctrl.SetLogger(zl)
+	} else {
+		ctrl.SetLogger(logr.Discard())
 	}
 
 	log.Debug("Starting", "sync-period", syncPeriod.String())
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 3dcc96e8..170d3fca 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/crossplane/crossplane-tools v0.0.0-20260719180100-659f1dc036c5
 	github.com/crossplane/crossplane/apis/v2 v2.4.0
 	github.com/crossplane/upjet/v2 v2.2.0
+	github.com/go-logr/logr v1.4.4
 	github.com/go-sql-driver/mysql v1.10.0
 	github.com/google/go-cmp v0.7.0
 	github.com/lib/pq v1.12.3
@@ -42,7 +43,6 @@ require (
 	github.com/fatih/color v1.19.0 // indirect
 	github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify v1.9.0 // indirect
 	github.com/fxamacker/cbor/v2 v2.9.1 // indirect
-	github.com/go-logr/logr v1.4.4 // indirect
 	github.com/go-logr/zapr v1.3.0 // indirect
 	github.com/go-openapi/jsonpointer v1.0.0 // indirect
 	github.com/go-openapi/jsonreference v1.0.0 // indirect