diff --git a/pkg/config/severity.go b/pkg/config/severity.go
index 2cb26c28b..ca61f2532 100644
--- a/pkg/config/severity.go
+++ b/pkg/config/severity.go
@@ -18,9 +18,6 @@ package config
 type Severity string
 
 const (
-	// SeveritySuccess indicates validation success
-	SeveritySuccess Severity = "success"
-
 	// SeverityIgnore ignores validation failures
 	SeverityIgnore Severity = "ignore"
 
diff --git a/pkg/validator/resource.go b/pkg/validator/resource.go
index 42c1a2bee..fffae0510 100644
--- a/pkg/validator/resource.go
+++ b/pkg/validator/resource.go
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ func (rv *ResourceValidation) addError(message string) {
 	rv.Summary.Errors++
 	rv.Errors = append(rv.Errors, &ResultMessage{
 		Message: message,
-		Type:    conf.SeverityError,
+		Type:    MessageTypeError,
 	})
 }
 
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ func (rv *ResourceValidation) addWarning(message string) {
 	rv.Summary.Warnings++
 	rv.Warnings = append(rv.Warnings, &ResultMessage{
 		Message: message,
-		Type:    conf.SeverityWarning,
+		Type:    MessageTypeWarning,
 	})
 }
 
@@ -67,6 +67,6 @@ func (rv *ResourceValidation) addSuccess(message string) {
 	rv.Summary.Successes++
 	rv.Successes = append(rv.Successes, &ResultMessage{
 		Message: message,
-		Type:    conf.SeveritySuccess,
+		Type:    MessageTypeSuccess,
 	})
 }
diff --git a/pkg/validator/types.go b/pkg/validator/types.go
index b0a015c2e..c63a088ee 100644
--- a/pkg/validator/types.go
+++ b/pkg/validator/types.go
@@ -14,8 +14,18 @@
 
 package validator
 
-import (
-	conf "github.com/reactiveops/fairwinds/pkg/config"
+// MessageType represents the type of Message
+type MessageType string
+
+const (
+	// MessageTypeSuccess indicates a validation success
+	MessageTypeSuccess MessageType = "success"
+
+	// MessageTypeWarning indicates a validation warning
+	MessageTypeWarning MessageType = "warning"
+
+	// MessageTypeError indicates a validation error
+	MessageTypeError MessageType = "error"
 )
 
 // NamespacedResult groups resource results by namespace.
@@ -59,7 +69,7 @@ type PodResult struct {
 // ResultMessage contains a message and a type indicator (success, warning, or error).
 type ResultMessage struct {
 	Message string
-	Type    conf.Severity
+	Type    MessageType
 }
 
 // Score represents a percentage of validations that were successful.