diff --git a/opal/mca/btl/usnic/help-mpi-btl-usnic.txt b/opal/mca/btl/usnic/help-mpi-btl-usnic.txt
index 6e635bcf20..fdef7cca4c 100644
--- a/opal/mca/btl/usnic/help-mpi-btl-usnic.txt
+++ b/opal/mca/btl/usnic/help-mpi-btl-usnic.txt
@@ -174,9 +174,18 @@ Your MPI job is going to abort now.
   Large message size: %u
 
 Note that this behavior usually indicates that the MTU of some network
-link is too small between these two interfaces.  You should verify that
-UDP traffic with payloads up to the "large message size" listed above
-can flow between the specified interfaces on these servers.
+link is too small between these two interfaces.
+
+You should verify that UDP traffic with payloads up to the "large
+message size" listed above can flow between these two interfaces.  You
+should also verify that Open MPI is choosing to pair IP interfaces
+consistently.  For example:
+
+  mpirun --mca btl_usnic_connectivity_map mymap ...
+
+Check the resulting "mymap*" files to see the exact pairing of IP
+interfaces.  Inconsistent results may be indicative of underlying
+network misconfigurations.
 #
 [connectivity error: small bad, large ok]
 The Open MPI usNIC BTL was unable to establish full connectivity
@@ -199,15 +208,28 @@ Your MPI job is going to abort now.
 
 This is a very strange network error, and should not occur in most
 situations.  You may be experiencing high amounts of congestion, or
-this may indicate some kind of network misconfiguration.  You should
-verify that UDP traffic with payloads up to the "large message size"
-listed above can flow between the specified interfaces on these
-servers.
+this may indicate some kind of network misconfiguration.
+
+You should verify that UDP traffic with payloads up to the "large
+message size" listed above can flow between these two interfaces.  You
+should also verify that Open MPI is choosing to pair IP interfaces
+consistently.  For example:
+
+  mpirun --mca btl_usnic_connectivity_map mymap ...
+
+Check the resulting "mymap*" files to see the exact pairing of IP
+interfaces.  Inconsistent results may be indicative of underlying
+network misconfigurations.
 #
 [connectivity error: small bad, large bad]
 The Open MPI usNIC BTL was unable to establish any connectivity
 between at least one pair of interfaces on servers in the MPI job.
-Specifically, no UDP messages seemed to flow between the interfaces.
+This can happen for several reasons, including:
+
+1. No UDP traffic is able to flow between the interfaces listed below.
+2. There is asymmetric routing between the interfaces listed below,
+   leading Open MPI to discard UDP traffic it thinks is from an
+   unexpected source.
 
 Your MPI job is going to abort now.
 
@@ -223,9 +245,18 @@ Your MPI job is going to abort now.
   Large message size: %u
 
 Note that this behavior usually indicates some kind of network
-misconfiguration.  You should verify that UDP traffic with payloads up
-to the "large message size" listed above can flow between the
-specified interfaces on these servers.
+misconfiguration.
+
+You should verify that UDP traffic with payloads up to the "large
+message size" listed above can flow between these two interfaces.  You
+should also verify that Open MPI is choosing to pair IP interfaces
+consistently.  For example:
+
+  mpirun --mca btl_usnic_connectivity_map mymap ...
+
+Check the resulting "mymap*" files to see the exact pairing of IP
+interfaces.  Inconsistent results may be indicative of underlying
+network misconfigurations.
 #
 [ibv_create_ah timeout]
 The usnic BTL failed to create addresses for remote peers within the