diff --git a/opal/mca/btl/usnic/btl_usnic_component.c b/opal/mca/btl/usnic/btl_usnic_component.c
index 418d59b298..07803ce9ee 100644
--- a/opal/mca/btl/usnic/btl_usnic_component.c
+++ b/opal/mca/btl/usnic/btl_usnic_component.c
@@ -337,11 +337,11 @@ static int check_usnic_config(opal_btl_usnic_module_t *module,
        1. num_vfs (i.e., "usNICs") >= num_local_procs (to ensure that
           each MPI process will be able to have its own protection
           domain), and
-       2. num_vfs * num_qps_per_vf >= num_local_procs * NUM_CHANNELS
+       2. num_qps_per_vf >= NUM_CHANNELS
           (to ensure that each MPI process will be able to get the
           number of QPs it needs -- we know that every VF will have
           the same number of QPs), and
-       3. num_vfs * num_cqs_per_vf >= num_local_procs * NUM_CHANNELS
+       3. num_cqs_per_vf >= NUM_CHANNELS
           (to ensure that each MPI process will be able to get the
           number of CQs that it needs) */
     if (uip->ui.v1.ui_num_vf < unlp) {
@@ -350,19 +350,17 @@ static int check_usnic_config(opal_btl_usnic_module_t *module,
         goto error;
     }
 
-    if (uip->ui.v1.ui_num_vf * uip->ui.v1.ui_qp_per_vf <
-        unlp * USNIC_NUM_CHANNELS) {
-        snprintf(str, sizeof(str), "Not enough WQ/RQ (found %d, need %d)",
-                 uip->ui.v1.ui_num_vf * uip->ui.v1.ui_qp_per_vf,
-                 unlp * USNIC_NUM_CHANNELS);
+    if (uip->ui.v1.ui_qp_per_vf < USNIC_NUM_CHANNELS) {
+        snprintf(str, sizeof(str), "Not enough transmit/receive queues per usNIC (found %d, need %d)",
+                 uip->ui.v1.ui_qp_per_vf,
+                 USNIC_NUM_CHANNELS);
         goto error;
     }
-    if (uip->ui.v1.ui_num_vf * uip->ui.v1.ui_cq_per_vf <
-        unlp * USNIC_NUM_CHANNELS) {
+    if (uip->ui.v1.ui_cq_per_vf < USNIC_NUM_CHANNELS) {
         snprintf(str, sizeof(str),
-                 "Not enough CQ per usNIC (found %d, need %d)",
-                 uip->ui.v1.ui_num_vf * uip->ui.v1.ui_cq_per_vf,
-                 unlp * USNIC_NUM_CHANNELS);
+                 "Not enough completion queues per usNIC (found %d, need %d)",
+                 uip->ui.v1.ui_cq_per_vf,
+                 USNIC_NUM_CHANNELS);
         goto error;
     }
 
diff --git a/opal/mca/btl/usnic/help-mpi-btl-usnic.txt b/opal/mca/btl/usnic/help-mpi-btl-usnic.txt
index 055b0954b7..a10a905a06 100644
--- a/opal/mca/btl/usnic/help-mpi-btl-usnic.txt
+++ b/opal/mca/btl/usnic/help-mpi-btl-usnic.txt
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ This means that you have either not provisioned enough usNICs on this
 VIC, or there are not enough total receive, transmit, or completion
 queues on the provisioned usNICs.  On each VIC in a given server, you
 need to provision at least as many usNICs as MPI processes on that
-server.  In each usNIC, you need to provision at least two each of the
+server.  In each usNIC, you need to provision enough of each of the
 following: send queues, receive queues, and completion queues.
 
 Open MPI will skip this usNIC interface in the usnic BTL, which may