diff --git a/experimental/CHANGELOG.md b/experimental/CHANGELOG.md
index d06a791cc8e..7c64b24774d 100644
--- a/experimental/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/experimental/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ All notable changes to experimental packages in this project will be documented
 ### :rocket: (Enhancement)
 
 * feat(instrumentation): re-export initialize function from import-in-the-middle [#5123](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-js/pull/5123)
+* refactor(opentelemetry-sdk-node): lower diagnostic level [#5360](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-js/pull/5360) @cjihrig
 
 ### :bug: (Bug Fix)
 
diff --git a/experimental/packages/opentelemetry-sdk-node/src/sdk.ts b/experimental/packages/opentelemetry-sdk-node/src/sdk.ts
index e3920bfa395..b07f400623a 100644
--- a/experimental/packages/opentelemetry-sdk-node/src/sdk.ts
+++ b/experimental/packages/opentelemetry-sdk-node/src/sdk.ts
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ function configureMetricProviderFromEnv(): MetricReader[] {
   const enabledExporters = filterBlanksAndNulls(metricsExporterList.split(','));
 
   if (enabledExporters.length === 0) {
-    diag.info('OTEL_METRICS_EXPORTER is empty. Using default otlp exporter.');
+    diag.debug('OTEL_METRICS_EXPORTER is empty. Using default otlp exporter.');
   }
 
   if (enabledExporters.includes('none')) {
@@ -449,7 +449,7 @@ export class NodeSDK {
     const enabledExporters = filterBlanksAndNulls(logExportersList.split(','));
 
     if (enabledExporters.length === 0) {
-      diag.info('OTEL_LOGS_EXPORTER is empty. Using default otlp exporter.');
+      diag.debug('OTEL_LOGS_EXPORTER is empty. Using default otlp exporter.');
       enabledExporters.push('otlp');
     }
 
diff --git a/experimental/packages/opentelemetry-sdk-node/src/utils.ts b/experimental/packages/opentelemetry-sdk-node/src/utils.ts
index 8b73744f489..3c1011b0b34 100644
--- a/experimental/packages/opentelemetry-sdk-node/src/utils.ts
+++ b/experimental/packages/opentelemetry-sdk-node/src/utils.ts
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ export function getSpanProcessorsFromEnv(): SpanProcessor[] {
   }
 
   if (traceExportersList.length === 0) {
-    diag.warn('OTEL_TRACES_EXPORTER is empty. Using default otlp exporter.');
+    diag.debug('OTEL_TRACES_EXPORTER is empty. Using default otlp exporter.');
     traceExportersList = ['otlp'];
   } else if (
     traceExportersList.length > 1 &&
diff --git a/experimental/packages/opentelemetry-sdk-node/test/sdk.test.ts b/experimental/packages/opentelemetry-sdk-node/test/sdk.test.ts
index 52f326d7758..f93fb03b2a8 100644
--- a/experimental/packages/opentelemetry-sdk-node/test/sdk.test.ts
+++ b/experimental/packages/opentelemetry-sdk-node/test/sdk.test.ts
@@ -1136,7 +1136,7 @@ describe('Node SDK', () => {
       sdk.start();
       assert.ok(!(metrics.getMeterProvider() instanceof MeterProvider));
       assert.strictEqual(
-        stubLogger.args[1][0],
+        stubLogger.args[0][0],
         'OTEL_METRICS_EXPORTER contains "none". Metric provider will not be initialized.'
       );
       await sdk.shutdown();