diff --git a/src/stan/gm/command.hpp b/src/stan/gm/command.hpp
index d9cf78bceb0..5ede6359b4f 100644
--- a/src/stan/gm/command.hpp
+++ b/src/stan/gm/command.hpp
@@ -64,9 +64,10 @@ namespace stan {
                     << "rejected becuase of the following issue:"
                     << std::endl
                     << e.what() << std::endl
-                    << "If this warning occurs sporadically then the sampler is fine,"
+                    << "If this warning occurs sporadically, such as for highly constrained "
+                    << "variable types like covariance matrices, then the sampler is fine,"
                     << std::endl
-                    << "but if this warning occurs often then your model is either severely "
+                    << "but if this warning occurs often then your model may be either severely "
                     << "ill-conditioned or misspecified."
                     << std::endl;
       
diff --git a/src/stan/mcmc/hmc/hamiltonians/base_hamiltonian.hpp b/src/stan/mcmc/hmc/hamiltonians/base_hamiltonian.hpp
index eef1ed9d816..7a70074421f 100644
--- a/src/stan/mcmc/hmc/hamiltonians/base_hamiltonian.hpp
+++ b/src/stan/mcmc/hmc/hamiltonians/base_hamiltonian.hpp
@@ -70,16 +70,15 @@ namespace stan {
           if (!error_msgs) return;
           
           *error_msgs << std::endl
-                      << "Informational Message: The parameter state is about to be Metropolis"
-                      << " rejected due to the following underlying, non-fatal (really)"
-                      << " issue (and please ignore that what comes next might say 'error'): "
-                      << e.what()
+                      << "Informational Message: The current Metropolis proposal is about to be "
+                      << "rejected becuase of the following issue:"
                       << std::endl
-                      << "If the problem persists across multiple draws, you might have"
-                      << " a problem with an initial state or a gradient somewhere."
+                      << e.what() << std::endl
+                      << "If this warning occurs sporadically, such as for highly constrained "
+                      << "variable types like covariance matrices, then the sampler is fine,"
                       << std::endl
-                      << " If the problem does not persist, the resulting samples will still"
-                      << " be drawn from the posterior."
+                      << "but if this warning occurs often then your model may be either severely "
+                      << "ill-conditioned or misspecified."
                       << std::endl;
           
       }
@@ -89,6 +88,6 @@ namespace stan {
   } // mcmc
 
 } // stan
-          
+
 
 #endif