diff --git a/ompi/runtime/help-mpi-runtime.txt b/ompi/runtime/help-mpi-runtime.txt
index 67dd78ebf0..8df6955dd8 100644
--- a/ompi/runtime/help-mpi-runtime.txt
+++ b/ompi/runtime/help-mpi-runtime.txt
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 #                         University of Stuttgart.  All rights reserved.
 # Copyright (c) 2004-2005 The Regents of the University of California.
 #                         All rights reserved.
-# Copyright (c) 2007      Cisco Systems, Inc.  All rights reserved.
+# Copyright (c) 2007-2010 Cisco Systems, Inc.  All rights reserved.
 # $COPYRIGHT$
 # 
 # Additional copyrights may follow
@@ -29,6 +29,23 @@ developer):
 
   %s
   --> Returned "%s" (%d) instead of "Success" (0)
+#
+[mpi_init:startup:pml-add-procs-fail]
+
+MPI_INIT has failed because at least one MPI process is unreachable
+from another.  This *usually* means that an underlying communication
+plugin -- such as a BTL or an MTL -- has either not loaded or not
+allowed itself to be used.  Your MPI job will now abort.
+
+You may wish to try to narrow down the problem;
+
+ * Check the output of ompi_info to see which BTL/MTL plugins are
+   available.
+ * Run your application with MPI_THREAD_SINGLE.
+ * Set the MCA parameter btl_base_verbose to 100 (or mtl_base_verbose,
+   if using MTL-based communications) to see exactly which
+   communication plugins were considered and/or discarded.
+#
 [mpi-param-check-enabled-but-compiled-out]
 WARNING: The MCA parameter mpi_param_check has been set to true, but
 parameter checking has been compiled out of Open MPI.  The
diff --git a/ompi/runtime/ompi_mpi_init.c b/ompi/runtime/ompi_mpi_init.c
index 86cf293cc6..123e97d193 100644
--- a/ompi/runtime/ompi_mpi_init.c
+++ b/ompi/runtime/ompi_mpi_init.c
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
  *                         University of Stuttgart.  All rights reserved.
  * Copyright (c) 2004-2005 The Regents of the University of California.
  *                         All rights reserved.
- * Copyright (c) 2006-2009 Cisco Systems, Inc.  All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2006-2010 Cisco Systems, Inc.  All rights reserved.
  * Copyright (c) 2006-2007 Los Alamos National Security, LLC.  All rights
  *                         reserved. 
  * Copyright (c) 2006-2009 University of Houston. All rights reserved.
@@ -723,7 +723,15 @@ int ompi_mpi_init(int argc, char **argv, int requested, int *provided)
     }
     ret = MCA_PML_CALL(add_procs(procs, nprocs));
     free(procs);
-    if( OMPI_SUCCESS != ret ) {
+    /* If we got "unreachable", then print a specific error message.
+       Otherwise, if we got some other failure, fall through to print
+       a generic message. */
+    if (OMPI_ERR_UNREACH == ret) {
+        orte_show_help("help-mpi-runtime",
+                       "mpi_init:startup:pml-add-procs-fail", true);
+        error = NULL;
+        goto error;
+    } else if (OMPI_SUCCESS != ret) {
         error = "PML add procs failed";
         goto error;
     }
@@ -892,16 +900,19 @@ int ompi_mpi_init(int argc, char **argv, int requested, int *provided)
 
  error:
     if (ret != OMPI_SUCCESS) {
-        const char *err_msg = opal_strerror(ret);
-        /* If ORTE was not setup yet, don't use orte_show_help */
-        if (orte_setup) {
-            orte_show_help("help-mpi-runtime",
-                           "mpi_init:startup:internal-failure", true,
-                           "MPI_INIT", "MPI_INIT", error, err_msg, ret);
-        } else {
-            opal_show_help("help-mpi-runtime",
-                           "mpi_init:startup:internal-failure", true,
-                           "MPI_INIT", "MPI_INIT", error, err_msg, ret);
+        /* Only print a message if one was not already printed */
+        if (NULL != error) {
+            const char *err_msg = opal_strerror(ret);
+            /* If ORTE was not setup yet, don't use orte_show_help */
+            if (orte_setup) {
+                orte_show_help("help-mpi-runtime",
+                               "mpi_init:startup:internal-failure", true,
+                               "MPI_INIT", "MPI_INIT", error, err_msg, ret);
+            } else {
+                opal_show_help("help-mpi-runtime",
+                               "mpi_init:startup:internal-failure", true,
+                               "MPI_INIT", "MPI_INIT", error, err_msg, ret);
+            }
         }
         return ret;
     }