diff --git a/ompi/mca/btl/usnic/btl_usnic_compat.h b/ompi/mca/btl/usnic/btl_usnic_compat.h
index 596cf5a078..6f964217b1 100644
--- a/ompi/mca/btl/usnic/btl_usnic_compat.h
+++ b/ompi/mca/btl/usnic/btl_usnic_compat.h
@@ -21,6 +21,11 @@
 /* for per-file #ifdefs, esp. #includes */
 #  define OMPI_BTL_USNIC_CISCO_V1_6 1
 
+/* for some of the ORTE_* constants that we name-shift to OMPI_* here */
+#  include "orte/mca/errmgr/errmgr.h"
+#  include "orte/runtime/orte_globals.h"
+#  include "orte/util/show_help.h"
+
 #define opal_event_set(event_base_,A,B,C,D,E) \
     opal_event_set(A,B,C,D,E)
 #  define opal_show_help orte_show_help
@@ -52,6 +57,10 @@
 
 #elif (OMPI_MAJOR_VERSION == 1 && OMPI_MINOR_VERSION >= 7) || \
       (OMPI_MAJOR_VERSION >= 2)
+
+/* the v1.7+ equivalent way to get OMPI_ERROR_LOG and friends */
+#  include "ompi/mca/rte/rte.h"
+
 /* v1.7, v1.8 (to be released), trunk (v1.9), or later */
 /* TODO validate that all of these things actually work with v1.7 */
 #  define USNIC_OUT ompi_btl_base_framework.framework_output
diff --git a/ompi/mca/btl/usnic/btl_usnic_component.c b/ompi/mca/btl/usnic/btl_usnic_component.c
index 117ec74e06..4893969e0c 100644
--- a/ompi/mca/btl/usnic/btl_usnic_component.c
+++ b/ompi/mca/btl/usnic/btl_usnic_component.c
@@ -55,7 +55,6 @@
 #include "opal/mca/memchecker/base/base.h"
 #include "opal/util/show_help.h"
 
-#include "ompi/mca/rte/rte.h"
 #include "ompi/constants.h"
 #include "ompi/mca/btl/btl.h"
 #include "ompi/mca/btl/base/base.h"
diff --git a/ompi/mca/btl/usnic/btl_usnic_module.c b/ompi/mca/btl/usnic/btl_usnic_module.c
index 1131ced4fc..105a9f0502 100644
--- a/ompi/mca/btl/usnic/btl_usnic_module.c
+++ b/ompi/mca/btl/usnic/btl_usnic_module.c
@@ -33,7 +33,6 @@
 #include "opal/include/opal_stdint.h"
 #include "opal/util/show_help.h"
 
-#include "ompi/mca/rte/rte.h"
 #include "ompi/mca/btl/btl.h"
 #include "ompi/mca/btl/base/btl_base_error.h"
 #include "ompi/mca/mpool/base/base.h"
diff --git a/ompi/mca/btl/usnic/btl_usnic_proc.c b/ompi/mca/btl/usnic/btl_usnic_proc.c
index 6cb76f260e..80c210486d 100644
--- a/ompi/mca/btl/usnic/btl_usnic_proc.c
+++ b/ompi/mca/btl/usnic/btl_usnic_proc.c
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@
 #include "opal/util/arch.h"
 #include "opal/util/show_help.h"
 
-#include "ompi/mca/rte/rte.h"
 #include "ompi/runtime/ompi_module_exchange.h"
 #include "ompi/constants.h"
 
diff --git a/ompi/mca/btl/usnic/btl_usnic_util.c b/ompi/mca/btl/usnic/btl_usnic_util.c
index 7c04d2a8fa..f5a013b034 100644
--- a/ompi/mca/btl/usnic/btl_usnic_util.c
+++ b/ompi/mca/btl/usnic/btl_usnic_util.c
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2013 Cisco Systems, Inc.  All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2013-2014 Cisco Systems, Inc.  All rights reserved.
  * $COPYRIGHT$
  *
  * Additional copyrights may follow
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
 
 #include "opal/util/show_help.h"
 
-#include "ompi/mca/rte/rte.h"
 #include "ompi/constants.h"
 
 #include "btl_usnic_util.h"