diff --git a/dist/tools/vera++/scripts/rules/L004.tcl b/dist/tools/vera++/scripts/rules/L004.tcl
index fd5da0d4e0..481797b396 100755
--- a/dist/tools/vera++/scripts/rules/L004.tcl
+++ b/dist/tools/vera++/scripts/rules/L004.tcl
@@ -3,11 +3,17 @@
 
 set maxLength [getParameter "max-line-length" 100]
 
+#MOD: We add here a line length thershold for line length
+set maxLengthWarn [getParameter "max-line-length-warn" 80]
+
 foreach f [getSourceFileNames] {
     set lineNumber 1
     foreach line [getAllLines $f] {
         if {[string length $line] > $maxLength} {
             report $f $lineNumber "line is longer than ${maxLength} characters"
+        } elseif {[string length $line] > $maxLengthWarn} {
+            # puts won't make vera++ return error code when invoked with --error
+            puts "$f:$lineNumber: warning: line is longer than $maxLengthWarn characters"
         }
         incr lineNumber
     }