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Abstract The electronic ground state of iron-based materials is unusually sensitive to electronic correlations. Among others, its delicate balance is profoundly affected by the insertion of magnetic impurities in the FeAs layers. Here, we address the effects of Fe-to-Mn substitution in the non-superconducting Sm-1111 pnictide parent compound via a comparative study of SmFe $$_{1-x}$$ 1 - x Mn $$_{x}$$ x AsO samples with $$x(\text{Mn})=$$ x ( Mn ) = 0.05 and 0.10. Magnetization, Hall effect, and muon-spin spectroscopy data provide a coherent picture, indicating a weakening of the commensurate Fe spin-density-wave (SDW) order, as shown by the lowering of the SDW transition temperature $$T_\text{SDW}$$ T SDW with increasing Mn content, and the unexpected appearance of another magnetic order, occurring at $$T^{*} \approx 10$$ T ∗ ≈ 10 and 20 K for $$x=0.05$$ x = 0.05 and 0.10, respectively. We attribute the new magnetic transition at $$T^{*}$$ T ∗ , occurring well inside the SDW phase, to a reorganization of the Fermi surface due to Fe-to-Mn substitutions. These give rise to enhanced magnetic fluctuations along the incommensurate wavevector $$\varvec{Q}_2 =(\pi \pm \delta ,\pi \pm \delta )$$ Q 2 = ( π ± δ , π ± δ ) , further increased by the RKKY interactions among Mn impurities.