diff --git a/orte/mca/ess/pmi/ess_pmi_module.c b/orte/mca/ess/pmi/ess_pmi_module.c
index 5f0ad67023..3e2f9d5a24 100644
--- a/orte/mca/ess/pmi/ess_pmi_module.c
+++ b/orte/mca/ess/pmi/ess_pmi_module.c
@@ -249,6 +249,12 @@ static int rte_init(void)
             error = "could not get PMI clique size";
             goto error;
         }
+        /* store that info - remember, we want the number of peers that
+         * share the node WITH ME, so we have to subtract ourselves from
+         * that number
+         */
+        orte_process_info.num_local_peers = i - 1;
+        /* now get the specific ranks */
         ranks = (int*)malloc(i * sizeof(int));
         if (PMI_SUCCESS != (ret = PMI_Get_clique_ranks(ranks, i))) {
             ORTE_PMI_ERROR(ret, "PMI_Get_clique_ranks");
diff --git a/orte/test/mpi/hello.c b/orte/test/mpi/hello.c
index 48e3c8ba3c..e8dbb2ac2c 100644
--- a/orte/test/mpi/hello.c
+++ b/orte/test/mpi/hello.c
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 #include "opal/mca/hwloc/hwloc.h"
 #include "mpi.h"
 
+#include "orte/util/proc_info.h"
 
 int main(int argc, char* argv[])
 {
@@ -24,7 +25,8 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[])
     rc = hwloc_get_cpubind(opal_hwloc_topology, cpus, HWLOC_CPUBIND_PROCESS);
     hwloc_bitmap_list_asprintf(&bindings, cpus);
 
-    printf("Hello, World, I am %d of %d: get_cpubind: %d bitmap %s\n", rank, size, rc,
+    printf("Hello, World, I am %d of %d [%d local peers]: get_cpubind: %d bitmap %s\n",
+           rank, size, orte_process_info.num_local_peers, rc,
            (NULL == bindings) ? "NULL" : bindings);
 
     MPI_Finalize();
diff --git a/orte/util/nidmap.c b/orte/util/nidmap.c
index f7b7776025..0d853ea4c2 100644
--- a/orte/util/nidmap.c
+++ b/orte/util/nidmap.c
@@ -950,6 +950,10 @@ int orte_util_decode_pidmap(opal_byte_object_t *bo)
                                      "%s orte:util:decode:pidmap proc %s shares node",
                                      ORTE_NAME_PRINT(ORTE_PROC_MY_NAME),
                                      ORTE_NAME_PRINT(&proc)));
+                /* we share a node, so add them to the count of peers
+                 * sharing the node with me
+                 */
+                orte_process_info.num_local_peers++;
 #if OPAL_HAVE_HWLOC
                 /* retrieve the bind level for the other proc's job */
                 lvptr = &pbind;
diff --git a/orte/util/proc_info.c b/orte/util/proc_info.c
index ce024a950f..c95662b54e 100644
--- a/orte/util/proc_info.c
+++ b/orte/util/proc_info.c
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@
  * Copyright (c) 2004-2005 The Regents of the University of California.
  *                         All rights reserved.
  * Copyright (c) 2009      Cisco Systems, Inc.  All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2012      Los Alamos National Security, LLC.
+ *                         All rights reserved.
  * $COPYRIGHT$
  * 
  * Additional copyrights may follow
@@ -59,6 +61,7 @@ ORTE_DECLSPEC orte_proc_info_t orte_process_info = {
     /*  .num_restarts =         */   0,
     /*  .my_node_rank =         */   ORTE_NODE_RANK_INVALID,
     /*  .my_local_rank =        */   ORTE_LOCAL_RANK_INVALID,
+    /*  .num_local_peers =      */   0,
     /*  .tmpdir_base =          */   NULL,
     /*  .top_session_dir =      */   NULL,
     /*  .job_session_dir =      */   NULL,
diff --git a/orte/util/proc_info.h b/orte/util/proc_info.h
index 00e2f10847..3e34d5569e 100644
--- a/orte/util/proc_info.h
+++ b/orte/util/proc_info.h
@@ -104,6 +104,7 @@ struct orte_proc_info_t {
     int32_t num_restarts;               /**< number of times this proc has restarted */
     orte_node_rank_t my_node_rank;      /**< node rank */
     orte_local_rank_t my_local_rank;    /**< local rank */
+    int32_t num_local_peers;            /**< number of procs from my job that share my node with me */
     /* The session directory has the form
      * <prefix>/<openmpi-sessions-user>/<jobid>/<procid>, where the prefix
      * can either be provided by the user via the