diff --git a/capa/main.py b/capa/main.py
index 5600caab..63d13cfb 100644
--- a/capa/main.py
+++ b/capa/main.py
@@ -583,18 +583,9 @@ def get_rules(rule_path):
     if not os.path.exists(rule_path):
         raise IOError('%s does not exist or cannot be accessed' % rule_path)
 
-    rules = []
+    rule_paths = []
     if os.path.isfile(rule_path):
-        logger.info('reading rule file: %s', rule_path)
-        with open(rule_path, 'rb') as f:
-            rule = capa.rules.Rule.from_yaml(f.read().decode('utf-8'))
-
-            if is_nursery_rule_path(rule_path):
-                rule.meta['nursery'] = True
-
-            rules.append(rule)
-            logger.debug('rule: %s scope: %s', rule.name, rule.scope)
-
+        rule_paths.append(rule_path)
     elif os.path.isdir(rule_path):
         logger.info('reading rules from directory %s', rule_path)
         for root, dirs, files in os.walk(rule_path):
@@ -603,18 +594,24 @@ def get_rules(rule_path):
                     logger.warning('skipping non-.yml file: %s', file)
                     continue
 
-                path = os.path.join(root, file)
-                logger.debug('reading rule file: %s', path)
-                try:
-                    rule = capa.rules.Rule.from_yaml_file(path)
-                except capa.rules.InvalidRule:
-                    raise
-                else:
-                    if is_nursery_rule_path(root):
-                        rule.meta['nursery'] = True
+                rule_path = os.path.join(root, file)
+                rule_paths.append(rule_path)
+
+    rules = []
+    for rule_path in rule_paths:
+        logger.info('reading rule file: %s', rule_path)
+        try:
+            rule = capa.rules.Rule.from_yaml_file(rule_path)
+        except capa.rules.InvalidRule:
+            raise
+        else:
+            rule.meta['capa/path'] = rule_path
+            if is_nursery_rule_path(rule_path):
+                rule.meta['capa/nursery'] = True
+
+            rules.append(rule)
+            logger.debug('rule: %s scope: %s', rule.name, rule.scope)
 
-                    rules.append(rule)
-                    logger.debug('rule: %s scope: %s', rule.name, rule.scope)
     return rules
 
 
diff --git a/capa/rules.py b/capa/rules.py
index a8e9b568..a742a40d 100644
--- a/capa/rules.py
+++ b/capa/rules.py
@@ -566,8 +566,27 @@ class Rule(object):
                 continue
             move_to_end(meta, key)
 
+        # these are meta fields that are internal to capa,
+        # and added during rule reading/construction.
+        # they may help use manipulate or index rules,
+        # but should not be exposed to clients.
+        hidden_meta_keys = ("capa/nursery", "capa/path")
+        hidden_meta = {
+            key: meta.get(key)
+            for key in hidden_meta_keys
+        }
+
+        for key in hidden_meta.keys():
+            del meta[key]
+
         ostream = six.BytesIO()
         yaml.dump(definition, ostream)
+
+        for key, value in hidden_meta.items():
+            if value is None:
+                continue
+            meta[key] = value
+
         return ostream.getvalue().decode('utf-8').rstrip("\n") + "\n"
 
 
diff --git a/scripts/lint.py b/scripts/lint.py
index ecb7d55f..29e30b97 100644
--- a/scripts/lint.py
+++ b/scripts/lint.py
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ class MissingNamespace(Lint):
 
     def check_rule(self, ctx, rule):
         return ('namespace' not in rule.meta and
-                'nursery' not in rule.meta and
+                not is_nursery_rule(rule) and
                 'maec/malware-category' not in rule.meta and
                 'lib' not in rule.meta)
 
@@ -250,7 +250,7 @@ def is_nursery_rule(rule):
     For example, they may not have references to public example of a technique.
     Yet, we still want to capture and report on their matches.
     '''
-    return rule.meta.get('nursery')
+    return rule.meta.get('capa/nursery')
 
 
 def lint_rule(ctx, rule):
diff --git a/scripts/migrate-rules.py b/scripts/migrate-rules.py
index 968e7cce..c8de7d2c 100644
--- a/scripts/migrate-rules.py
+++ b/scripts/migrate-rules.py
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ def read_rules(rule_directory):
             rules[rule.name] = rule
 
             if "nursery" in path:
-                rule.meta["nursery"] = True
+                rule.meta["capa/nursery"] = True
     return rules
 
 
@@ -132,10 +132,8 @@ def main(argv=None):
         filename = filename + ".yml"
 
         try:
-            if rule.meta.get("nursery"):
+            if rule.meta.get("capa/nursery"):
                 directory = os.path.join(args.destination, "nursery")
-                # this isn't meant to be written into the rule
-                del rule.meta["nursery"]
             elif rule.meta.get("lib"):
                 directory = os.path.join(args.destination, "lib")
             else: