diff --git a/pandas/io/stata.py b/pandas/io/stata.py
index df0d47b063411..66e996075f1ed 100644
--- a/pandas/io/stata.py
+++ b/pandas/io/stata.py
@@ -461,7 +461,8 @@ def parse_dates_safe(dates, delta=False, year=False, days=False):
 
 excessive_string_length_error = """
 Fixed width strings in Stata .dta files are limited to 244 (or fewer)
-characters.  Column '%s' does not satisfy this restriction.
+characters.  Column '%s' does not satisfy this restriction. Use the
+'version=117' parameter to write the newer (Stata 13 and later) format.
 """