diff --git a/components/partition_table/gen_esp32part.py b/components/partition_table/gen_esp32part.py
index 933b59263f..f1423a310e 100755
--- a/components/partition_table/gen_esp32part.py
+++ b/components/partition_table/gen_esp32part.py
@@ -92,6 +92,19 @@ def get_subtype_as_int(ptype, subtype):
             return subtype
 
 
+ALIGNMENT = {
+    APP_TYPE: 0x10000,
+    DATA_TYPE: 0x4,
+}
+
+
+STRICT_DATA_ALIGNMENT = 0x1000
+
+
+def get_alignment_for_type(ptype):
+    return ALIGNMENT.get(ptype, ALIGNMENT[DATA_TYPE])
+
+
 quiet = False
 md5sum = True
 secure = False
@@ -161,7 +174,7 @@ class PartitionTable(list):
                     raise InputError('CSV Error: Partitions overlap. Partition at line %d sets offset 0x%x. Previous partition ends 0x%x'
                                      % (e.line_no, e.offset, last_end))
             if e.offset is None:
-                pad_to = 0x10000 if e.type == APP_TYPE else 4
+                pad_to = get_alignment_for_type(e.type)
                 if last_end % pad_to != 0:
                     last_end += pad_to - (last_end % pad_to)
                 e.offset = last_end
@@ -211,10 +224,10 @@ class PartitionTable(list):
 
         # print sorted duplicate partitions by name
         if len(duplicates) != 0:
-            print('A list of partitions that have the same name:')
+            critical('A list of partitions that have the same name:')
             for p in sorted(self, key=lambda x:x.name):
                 if len(duplicates.intersection([p.name])) != 0:
-                    print('%s' % (p.to_csv()))
+                    critical('%s' % (p.to_csv()))
             raise InputError('Partition names must be unique')
 
         # check for overlaps
@@ -230,12 +243,12 @@ class PartitionTable(list):
         otadata_duplicates = [p for p in self if p.type == TYPES['data'] and p.subtype == SUBTYPES[DATA_TYPE]['ota']]
         if len(otadata_duplicates) > 1:
             for p in otadata_duplicates:
-                print(p.name, p.type, p.subtype)
+                critical('%s' % (p.to_csv()))
             raise InputError('Found multiple otadata partitions. Only one partition can be defined with type="data"(1) and subtype="ota"(0).')
 
         if len(otadata_duplicates) == 1 and otadata_duplicates[0].size != 0x2000:
             p = otadata_duplicates[0]
-            print(p.name, p.type, p.subtype, p.offset, p.size)
+            critical('%s' % (p.to_csv()))
             raise InputError('otadata partition must have size = 0x2000')
 
     def flash_size(self):
@@ -287,11 +300,6 @@ class PartitionTable(list):
 class PartitionDefinition(object):
     MAGIC_BYTES = b'\xAA\x50'
 
-    ALIGNMENT = {
-        APP_TYPE: 0x10000,
-        DATA_TYPE: 0x04,
-    }
-
     # dictionary maps flag name (as used in CSV flags list, property name)
     # to bit set in flags words in binary format
     FLAGS = {
@@ -388,10 +396,15 @@ class PartitionDefinition(object):
             raise ValidationError(self, 'Subtype field is not set')
         if self.offset is None:
             raise ValidationError(self, 'Offset field is not set')
-        align = self.ALIGNMENT.get(self.type, 4)
+        align = get_alignment_for_type(self.type)
         if self.offset % align:
             raise ValidationError(self, 'Offset 0x%x is not aligned to 0x%x' % (self.offset, align))
-        if self.size % align and secure:
+        # The alignment requirement for non-app partition is 4 bytes, but it should be 4 kB.
+        # Print a warning for now, make it an error in IDF 5.0 (IDF-3742).
+        if self.type != APP_TYPE and self.offset % STRICT_DATA_ALIGNMENT:
+            critical('WARNING: Partition %s not aligned to 0x%x.'
+                     'This is deprecated and will be considered an error in the future release.' % (self.name, STRICT_DATA_ALIGNMENT))
+        if self.size % align and secure and self.type == APP_TYPE:
             raise ValidationError(self, 'Size 0x%x is not aligned to 0x%x' % (self.size, align))
         if self.size is None:
             raise ValidationError(self, 'Size field is not set')
diff --git a/components/partition_table/test_gen_esp32part_host/gen_esp32part_tests.py b/components/partition_table/test_gen_esp32part_host/gen_esp32part_tests.py
index 8ae9b6c7be..11dd2170e2 100755
--- a/components/partition_table/test_gen_esp32part_host/gen_esp32part_tests.py
+++ b/components/partition_table/test_gen_esp32part_host/gen_esp32part_tests.py
@@ -451,6 +451,19 @@ ota_1,             0,  ota_1,          , 1M,
             self.assertIn('WARNING', sys.stderr.getvalue())
             self.assertIn('partition subtype', sys.stderr.getvalue())
 
+            sys.stderr = io.StringIO()
+            csv_3 = 'nvs, data, nvs, 0x8800, 32k'
+            gen_esp32part.PartitionTable.from_csv(csv_3).verify()
+            self.assertIn('WARNING', sys.stderr.getvalue())
+            self.assertIn('not aligned to 0x1000', sys.stderr.getvalue())
+
+            sys.stderr = io.StringIO()
+            csv_4 = 'factory, app, factory, 0x10000, 0x100100\n' \
+                    'nvs, data, nvs, , 32k'
+            gen_esp32part.PartitionTable.from_csv(csv_4).verify()
+            self.assertIn('WARNING', sys.stderr.getvalue())
+            self.assertIn('not aligned to 0x1000', sys.stderr.getvalue())
+
         finally:
             sys.stderr = sys.__stderr__