diff --git a/orte/mca/odls/base/help-orte-odls-base.txt b/orte/mca/odls/base/help-orte-odls-base.txt
index cde63e5cfd..29c83dbb1b 100644
--- a/orte/mca/odls/base/help-orte-odls-base.txt
+++ b/orte/mca/odls/base/help-orte-odls-base.txt
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 # Copyright (c) 2010      Cisco Systems, Inc.  All rights reserved.
 # Copyright (c) 2014      Research Organization for Information Science
 #                         and Technology (RIST). All rights reserved.
+# Copyright (c) 2017      Intel, Inc. All rights reserved.
 # $COPYRIGHT$
 #
 # Additional copyrights may follow
@@ -46,6 +47,7 @@ Will continue attempting to launch the process.
 The xterm option was asked to display a rank that is larger
 than the number of procs in the job:
 
+Node:      %s
 Rank:      %d
 Num procs: %d
 
diff --git a/orte/mca/odls/base/odls_base_default_fns.c b/orte/mca/odls/base/odls_base_default_fns.c
index 4f6ad2c95c..93c7c58a85 100644
--- a/orte/mca/odls/base/odls_base_default_fns.c
+++ b/orte/mca/odls/base/odls_base_default_fns.c
@@ -634,21 +634,24 @@ void orte_odls_base_spawn_proc(int fd, short sd, void *cbdata)
     char **env = NULL, **argv = NULL, *cmd = NULL;
     int rc, i;
     bool found;
+    orte_proc_state_t state;
 
     /* thread-protect common values */
     env = opal_argv_copy(app->env);
 
-    /* setup the pmix environment */
-    if (OPAL_SUCCESS != (rc = opal_pmix.server_setup_fork(&child->name, &env))) {
-        ORTE_ERROR_LOG(rc);
-        goto errorout;
-    }
-
     /* ensure we clear any prior info regarding state or exit status in
      * case this is a restart
      */
     child->exit_code = 0;
     ORTE_FLAG_UNSET(child, ORTE_PROC_FLAG_WAITPID);
+
+    /* setup the pmix environment */
+    if (OPAL_SUCCESS != (rc = opal_pmix.server_setup_fork(&child->name, &env))) {
+        ORTE_ERROR_LOG(rc);
+        state = ORTE_PROC_STATE_FAILED_TO_LAUNCH;
+        goto errorout;
+    }
+
     /* if we are not forwarding output for this job, then
      * flag iof as complete
      */
@@ -693,8 +696,9 @@ void orte_odls_base_spawn_proc(int fd, short sd, void *cbdata)
                 /* can't be done! */
                 orte_show_help("help-orte-odls-base.txt",
                                "orte-odls-base:xterm-rank-out-of-bounds",
-                               true, nm->name.vpid, jobdat->num_procs);
-                child->exit_code = ORTE_PROC_STATE_FAILED_TO_LAUNCH;
+                               true, orte_process_info.nodename,
+                               nm->name.vpid, jobdat->num_procs);
+                state = ORTE_PROC_STATE_FAILED_TO_LAUNCH;
                 goto errorout;
             }
         }
@@ -717,7 +721,7 @@ void orte_odls_base_spawn_proc(int fd, short sd, void *cbdata)
             orte_show_help("help-orte-odls-base.txt",
                            "orte-odls-base:fork-agent-not-found",
                            true, orte_process_info.nodename, orte_fork_agent[0]);
-            child->exit_code = ORTE_PROC_STATE_FAILED_TO_LAUNCH;
+            state = ORTE_PROC_STATE_FAILED_TO_LAUNCH;
             goto errorout;
         }
     } else {
@@ -730,7 +734,7 @@ void orte_odls_base_spawn_proc(int fd, short sd, void *cbdata)
      */
     if (ORTE_SUCCESS != (rc = orte_schizo.setup_child(jobdat, child, app, &env))) {
         ORTE_ERROR_LOG(rc);
-        child->exit_code = rc;
+        state = ORTE_PROC_STATE_FAILED_TO_LAUNCH;
         goto errorout;
     }
 
@@ -754,17 +758,8 @@ void orte_odls_base_spawn_proc(int fd, short sd, void *cbdata)
     }
 
     if (ORTE_SUCCESS != (rc = cd->fork_local(child, cmd, argv, env, jobdat, cd->opts))) {
-        child->exit_code = rc; /* error message already output */
-        goto errorout;
-    }
-    if (ORTE_SUCCESS != rc) {
-        /* do NOT ERROR_LOG this error - it generates
-         * a message/node as most errors will be common
-         * across the entire cluster. Instead, we let orterun
-         * output a consolidated error message for us
-         */
-        ORTE_FLAG_UNSET(child, ORTE_PROC_FLAG_ALIVE);
-        child->exit_code = rc; /* error message already output */
+        /* error message already output */
+        state = ORTE_PROC_STATE_FAILED_TO_START;
         goto errorout;
     }
 
@@ -782,7 +777,8 @@ void orte_odls_base_spawn_proc(int fd, short sd, void *cbdata)
     return;
 
   errorout:
-    ORTE_ACTIVATE_PROC_STATE(&child->name, ORTE_PROC_STATE_FAILED_TO_START);
+    ORTE_FLAG_UNSET(child, ORTE_PROC_FLAG_ALIVE);
+    ORTE_ACTIVATE_PROC_STATE(&child->name, state);
     if (NULL != env) {
         opal_argv_free(env);
     }
diff --git a/orte/mca/odls/default/help-orte-odls-default.txt b/orte/mca/odls/default/help-orte-odls-default.txt
index 0e5d526e13..06181b7c96 100644
--- a/orte/mca/odls/default/help-orte-odls-default.txt
+++ b/orte/mca/odls/default/help-orte-odls-default.txt
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 #                         All rights reserved.
 # Copyright (c) 2009      Sun Microsystems, Inc.  All rights reserved.
 # Copyright (c) 2010-2011 Cisco Systems, Inc.  All rights reserved.
+# Copyright (c) 2017      Intel, Inc. All rights reserved.
 # $COPYRIGHT$
 #
 # Additional copyrights may follow
@@ -29,6 +30,7 @@ having specified a directory for your application. Your job will now
 abort.
 
   Local host:        %s
+  Working dir:       %s
   Application name:  %s
   Error:             %s
 #
diff --git a/orte/mca/odls/default/odls_default_module.c b/orte/mca/odls/default/odls_default_module.c
index 0e1683e1c9..ecdbb41fe5 100644
--- a/orte/mca/odls/default/odls_default_module.c
+++ b/orte/mca/odls/default/odls_default_module.c
@@ -328,6 +328,7 @@ static int do_child(orte_proc_t *child,
     int i;
     sigset_t sigs;
     long fd, fdmax = sysconf(_SC_OPEN_MAX);
+    char dir[MAXPATHLEN];
 
 #if HAVE_SETPGID
     /* Set a new process group for this child, so that any
@@ -425,9 +426,10 @@ static int do_child(orte_proc_t *child,
     /* Exec the new executable */
 
     execve(app, argv, environ_copy);
+    getcwd(dir, sizeof(dir));
     send_error_show_help(write_fd, 1,
                          "help-orte-odls-default.txt", "execve error",
-                         orte_process_info.nodename, app, strerror(errno));
+                         orte_process_info.nodename, dir, app, strerror(errno));
     /* Does not return */
 }
 
diff --git a/orte/runtime/orte_quit.c b/orte/runtime/orte_quit.c
index ca383ac71d..240ce9dbd2 100644
--- a/orte/runtime/orte_quit.c
+++ b/orte/runtime/orte_quit.c
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
  * Copyright (c) 2007-2015 Los Alamos National Security, LLC.  All rights
  *                         reserved.
  * Copyright (c) 2012      Oak Ridge National Labs.  All rights reserved.
- * Copyright (c) 2014-2016 Intel, Inc. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2014-2017 Intel, Inc. All rights reserved.
  * $COPYRIGHT$
  *
  * Additional copyrights may follow
@@ -258,8 +258,8 @@ int orte_print_aborted_job(orte_job_t *job,
         default:
             if (0 != proc->exit_code) {
                 orte_show_help("help-orterun.txt", "orterun:proc-failed-to-start", true,
-                               orte_basename, ORTE_ERROR_NAME(proc->exit_code), node->name,
-                               (unsigned long)proc->name.vpid);
+                               orte_basename, proc->exit_code, ORTE_ERROR_NAME(proc->exit_code),
+                               node->name, (unsigned long)proc->name.vpid);
             } else {
                 orte_show_help("help-orterun.txt", "orterun:proc-failed-to-start-no-status", true,
                                orte_basename, node->name);
diff --git a/orte/tools/orterun/help-orterun.txt b/orte/tools/orterun/help-orterun.txt
index c7aca563d2..ff49f2e786 100644
--- a/orte/tools/orterun/help-orterun.txt
+++ b/orte/tools/orterun/help-orterun.txt
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 #                         All rights reserved.
 # Copyright (c) 2007-2016 Cisco Systems, Inc.  All rights reserved.
 # Copyright (c) 2012      Oak Ridge National Labs.  All rights reserved.
+# Copyright (c) 2017      Intel, Inc. All rights reserved.
 # $COPYRIGHT$
 #
 # Additional copyrights may follow
@@ -296,6 +297,7 @@ while attempting to start process rank %lu.
 %s was unable to start the specified application as it encountered an
 error:
 
+Error code: %d
 Error name: %s
 Node: %s
 
diff --git a/orte/util/error_strings.c b/orte/util/error_strings.c
index 3e9c2239b5..801373cb66 100644
--- a/orte/util/error_strings.c
+++ b/orte/util/error_strings.c
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ int orte_err2str(int errnum, const char **errmsg)
         if (orte_report_silent_errors) {
             retval = "Silent error";
         } else {
-            retval = NULL;
+            retval = "";
         }
         break;
     case ORTE_ERR_ADDRESSEE_UNKNOWN:
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ int orte_err2str(int errnum, const char **errmsg)
         if (orte_report_silent_errors) {
             retval = "Next option";
         } else {
-            retval = NULL;
+            retval = "";
         }
         break;
     case ORTE_ERR_SENSOR_LIMIT_EXCEEDED:
@@ -244,11 +244,7 @@ int orte_err2str(int errnum, const char **errmsg)
         retval = "Partial success";
         break;
     default:
-        if (orte_report_silent_errors) {
-            retval = "Unknown error";
-        } else {
-            retval = NULL;
-        }
+        retval = "Unknown error";
     }
 
     *errmsg = retval;