diff --git a/tools/src/h5dump/h5dump.c b/tools/src/h5dump/h5dump.c
index 2a5eeb70b2d..61467de176b 100644
--- a/tools/src/h5dump/h5dump.c
+++ b/tools/src/h5dump/h5dump.c
@@ -219,6 +219,10 @@ usage(const char *prog)
     PRINTVALSTREAM(rawoutstream,
                    "     --vol-info           VOL-specific info to pass to the VOL connector used for\n");
     PRINTVALSTREAM(rawoutstream, "                          opening the HDF5 file specified\n");
+    PRINTVALSTREAM(rawoutstream, 
+                   "                          If none of the above options are used to specify a VOL, then\n");
+    PRINTVALSTREAM(rawoutstream,
+                   "                          the VOL specified by HDF5_VOL_CONNECTOR (if any) will be used.\n");    
     PRINTVALSTREAM(rawoutstream,
                    "     --vfd-value          Value (ID) of the VFL driver to use for opening the\n");
     PRINTVALSTREAM(rawoutstream, "                          HDF5 file specified\n");