diff --git a/examples/03-read-to-persistent/client.c b/examples/03-read-to-persistent/client.c
index 2c71eb799a..5116f51867 100644
--- a/examples/03-read-to-persistent/client.c
+++ b/examples/03-read-to-persistent/client.c
@@ -128,6 +128,7 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 
 	/* if no pmem support or it is not provided */
 	if (mr_ptr == NULL) {
+		(void) fprintf(stderr, NO_PMEM_MSG);
 		mr_ptr = malloc_aligned(sizeof(struct hello_t));
 		if (mr_ptr == NULL)
 			return -1;
diff --git a/examples/common/common-conn.h b/examples/common/common-conn.h
index 65b00d3815..ea449d9045 100644
--- a/examples/common/common-conn.h
+++ b/examples/common/common-conn.h
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /* SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause */
-/* Copyright 2020, Intel Corporation */
+/* Copyright 2020-2021, Intel Corporation */
 
 /*
  * common-conn.h -- a common connection functions declarations for examples
@@ -12,11 +12,13 @@
 #include <librpma.h>
 
 #ifdef USE_LIBPMEM
-
 /* signature marking the persistent contents as valid */
 #define SIGNATURE_STR "RPMA_EXAMPLE_SIG"
 #define SIGNATURE_LEN (strlen(SIGNATURE_STR) + 1)
 
+#define NO_PMEM_MSG "No <pmem-path> provided. Using DRAM instead.\n"
+#else
+#define NO_PMEM_MSG "The example is unable to use libpmem. If unintended please check the build log. Using DRAM instead.\n"
 #endif
 
 /*