diff --git a/automation/summary.py b/automation/summary.py
index cc170c8..1d9b58e 100644
--- a/automation/summary.py
+++ b/automation/summary.py
@@ -42,12 +42,16 @@ def update_marker_block(
 
     updated = re.sub(pattern, replacer, content, flags=re.DOTALL)
 
-    # If no replacement happened, the markers might not exist
+    # If no replacement happened, the markers might not exist.
+    # Only warn if the file has OTHER markers (indicating it's initialized but missing this one).
+    # If there are NO markers at all, the file is uninitialized and warnings are noise.
     if updated == content:
-        sys.stderr.write(
-            f"[summary] note: markers for {marker_name} not found "
-            "(summary file likely not initialized yet)\n"
-        )
+        has_any_markers = "<!-- SUMMARY:" in content
+        if has_any_markers:
+            sys.stderr.write(
+                f"[summary] note: markers for {marker_name} not found "
+                "(summary file likely not initialized yet)\n"
+            )
 
     return updated