diff --git a/opal/mca/hwloc/base/hwloc_base_util.c b/opal/mca/hwloc/base/hwloc_base_util.c
index 91c0618f60..dd6530db2f 100644
--- a/opal/mca/hwloc/base/hwloc_base_util.c
+++ b/opal/mca/hwloc/base/hwloc_base_util.c
@@ -277,8 +277,8 @@ int opal_hwloc_base_get_topology(void)
     char *shmemfile;
 #endif
 
-    OPAL_OUTPUT_VERBOSE((2, opal_hwloc_base_framework.framework_output,
-                         "hwloc:base:get_topology"));
+    opal_output_verbose(2, opal_hwloc_base_framework.framework_output,
+                         "hwloc:base:get_topology");
 
     /* see if we already have it */
     if (NULL != opal_hwloc_topology) {
@@ -289,8 +289,8 @@ int opal_hwloc_base_get_topology(void)
 
     if (NULL != opal_pmix.get) {
 #if HWLOC_API_VERSION >= 0x20000
-        OPAL_OUTPUT_VERBOSE((2, opal_hwloc_base_framework.framework_output,
-                             "hwloc:base: looking for topology in shared memory"));
+        opal_output_verbose(2, opal_hwloc_base_framework.framework_output,
+                             "hwloc:base: looking for topology in shared memory");
 
         /* first try to get the shmem link, if available */
         aptr = &addr;
@@ -304,15 +304,17 @@ int opal_hwloc_base_get_topology(void)
         if (OPAL_SUCCESS == rc && OPAL_SUCCESS == rc2 && OPAL_SUCCESS == rc3) {
             if (0 > (fd = open(shmemfile, O_RDONLY))) {
                 free(shmemfile);
-                return OPAL_ERROR;
+                OPAL_ERROR_LOG(OPAL_ERR_FILE_OPEN_FAILURE)
+                return OPAL_ERR_FILE_OPEN_FAILURE;
             }
             free(shmemfile);
             if (0 != hwloc_shmem_topology_adopt(&opal_hwloc_topology, fd,
                                                 0, (void*)addr, size, 0)) {
-                return OPAL_ERROR;
+                OPAL_ERROR_LOG(OPAL_ERR_FILE_READ_FAILURE);
+                return OPAL_ERR_FILE_READ_FAILURE;
             }
-            OPAL_OUTPUT_VERBOSE((2, opal_hwloc_base_framework.framework_output,
-                                 "hwloc:base: topology in shared memory"));
+            opal_output_verbose(2, opal_hwloc_base_framework.framework_output,
+                                 "hwloc:base: topology in shared memory");
             topo_in_shmem = true;
             return OPAL_SUCCESS;
         }
@@ -320,14 +322,18 @@ int opal_hwloc_base_get_topology(void)
         /* if that isn't available, then try to retrieve
          * the xml representation from the PMIx data store */
         opal_output_verbose(1, opal_hwloc_base_framework.framework_output,
-                            "hwloc:base instantiating topology");
+                            "hwloc:base getting topology XML string");
         OPAL_MODEX_RECV_VALUE_OPTIONAL(rc, OPAL_PMIX_LOCAL_TOPO,
                                        &wildcard_rank, &val, OPAL_STRING);
     } else {
+        opal_output_verbose(1, opal_hwloc_base_framework.framework_output,
+                            "hwloc:base PMIx not available");
         rc = OPAL_ERR_NOT_SUPPORTED;
     }
 
     if (OPAL_SUCCESS == rc && NULL != val) {
+        opal_output_verbose(1, opal_hwloc_base_framework.framework_output,
+                            "hwloc:base loading topology from XML");
         /* load the topology */
         if (0 != hwloc_topology_init(&opal_hwloc_topology)) {
             free(val);
@@ -361,9 +367,12 @@ int opal_hwloc_base_get_topology(void)
             return rc;
         }
     } else if (NULL == opal_hwloc_base_topo_file) {
+        opal_output_verbose(1, opal_hwloc_base_framework.framework_output,
+                            "hwloc:base discovering topology");
         if (0 != hwloc_topology_init(&opal_hwloc_topology) ||
             0 != opal_hwloc_base_topology_set_flags(opal_hwloc_topology, 0, true) ||
             0 != hwloc_topology_load(opal_hwloc_topology)) {
+            OPAL_ERROR_LOG(OPAL_ERR_NOT_SUPPORTED);
             return OPAL_ERR_NOT_SUPPORTED;
         }
         /* filter the cpus thru any default cpu set */
@@ -372,6 +381,9 @@ int opal_hwloc_base_get_topology(void)
             return rc;
         }
     } else {
+        opal_output_verbose(1, opal_hwloc_base_framework.framework_output,
+                            "hwloc:base loading topology from file %s",
+                            opal_hwloc_base_topo_file);
         if (OPAL_SUCCESS != (rc = opal_hwloc_base_set_topology(opal_hwloc_base_topo_file))) {
             return rc;
         }
diff --git a/orte/test/mpi/hello.c b/orte/test/mpi/hello.c
index 6f1e430fb7..8f832d970d 100644
--- a/orte/test/mpi/hello.c
+++ b/orte/test/mpi/hello.c
@@ -16,11 +16,15 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[])
     int rank, size, rc;
     hwloc_cpuset_t cpus;
     char *bindings = NULL;
+    pid_t pid;
 
     MPI_Init(&argc, &argv);
     MPI_Comm_rank(MPI_COMM_WORLD, &rank);
     MPI_Comm_size(MPI_COMM_WORLD, &size);
+    pid = getpid();
 
+    printf("[%lu] Rank %d: getting topology\n", (unsigned long)pid, rank);
+    fflush(stdout);
     if (OPAL_SUCCESS == opal_hwloc_base_get_topology()) {
         cpus = hwloc_bitmap_alloc();
         rc = hwloc_get_cpubind(opal_hwloc_topology, cpus, HWLOC_CPUBIND_PROCESS);