We compute corrections to the decay of the Standard Model Higgs boson to hadrons, to the fourth order in the strong coupling constant $\alpha_s$. We use an effective theory in which the Higgs boson couples directly to bottom quarks and to gluons, via top quark--mediated effective couplings. Numerically, our results are of a comparable size to the previously-known ``massless'' contributions and complete the order $\alpha_s^4$ corrections to the hadronic decay of the Higgs boson. In these proceedings we also provide an independent cross check of the gluonic Higgs boson decay at order $\alpha_s^5$.