diff --git a/xml2rfc/writers/preptool.py b/xml2rfc/writers/preptool.py
index 1ac33a6f..0d7c4360 100644
--- a/xml2rfc/writers/preptool.py
+++ b/xml2rfc/writers/preptool.py
@@ -650,7 +650,7 @@ def front_insert_date(self, e, p):
                 year = str(today.year)
             if not month:
                 if year != str(today.year):
-                    self.die(e, "Expected <date> to have the current year when month is missing, but found '%s'" % (d.get('year')))
+                    self.warn(e, "Expected <date> to have the current year when month is missing, but found '%s'" % (d.get('year')))
                 month = today.strftime('%m')
                 day = today.strftime('%d')
             datestr = "%s-%s-%s" %(year, month, day or '01')