diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 7a27c1232..dce2eabb0 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -4,6 +4,9 @@ go 1.23
 
 toolchain go1.23.2
 
+// see https://github.com/kubernetes/apimachinery/blob/v0.31.2/go.mod#L30
+replace sigs.k8s.io/structured-merge-diff/v4 => sigs.k8s.io/structured-merge-diff/v4 v4.4.1
+
 require (
 	github.com/MakeNowJust/heredoc/v2 v2.0.1
 	github.com/chromedp/cdproto v0.0.0-20241030022559-23c28aebe8cb
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index ada793c9a..019064568 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -1110,8 +1110,8 @@ sigs.k8s.io/apiserver-network-proxy/konnectivity-client v0.30.3 h1:2770sDpzrjjsA
 sigs.k8s.io/apiserver-network-proxy/konnectivity-client v0.30.3/go.mod h1:Ve9uj1L+deCXFrPOk1LpFXqTg7LCFzFso6PA48q/XZw=
 sigs.k8s.io/json v0.0.0-20221116044647-bc3834ca7abd h1:EDPBXCAspyGV4jQlpZSudPeMmr1bNJefnuqLsRAsHZo=
 sigs.k8s.io/json v0.0.0-20221116044647-bc3834ca7abd/go.mod h1:B8JuhiUyNFVKdsE8h686QcCxMaH6HrOAZj4vswFpcB0=
-sigs.k8s.io/structured-merge-diff/v4 v4.4.2 h1:MdmvkGuXi/8io6ixD5wud3vOLwc1rj0aNqRlpuvjmwA=
-sigs.k8s.io/structured-merge-diff/v4 v4.4.2/go.mod h1:N8f93tFZh9U6vpxwRArLiikrE5/2tiu1w1AGfACIGE4=
+sigs.k8s.io/structured-merge-diff/v4 v4.4.1 h1:150L+0vs/8DA78h1u02ooW1/fFq/Lwr+sGiqlzvrtq4=
+sigs.k8s.io/structured-merge-diff/v4 v4.4.1/go.mod h1:N8hJocpFajUSSeSJ9bOZ77VzejKZaXsTtZo4/u7Io08=
 sigs.k8s.io/yaml v1.2.0/go.mod h1:yfXDCHCao9+ENCvLSE62v9VSji2MKu5jeNfTrofGhJc=
 sigs.k8s.io/yaml v1.4.0 h1:Mk1wCc2gy/F0THH0TAp1QYyJNzRm2KCLy3o5ASXVI5E=
 sigs.k8s.io/yaml v1.4.0/go.mod h1:Ejl7/uTz7PSA4eKMyQCUTnhZYNmLIl+5c2lQPGR2BPY=