diff --git a/tools/lib/h5tools.c b/tools/lib/h5tools.c
index 460153328da..d1f28620141 100644
--- a/tools/lib/h5tools.c
+++ b/tools/lib/h5tools.c
@@ -629,6 +629,13 @@ h5tools_set_fapl_vfd(hid_t fapl_id, h5tools_vfd_info_t *vfd_info)
              *
              * Currently, driver configuration strings are unsupported.
              */
+#if defined(H5_HAVE_PARALLEL) && defined(H5_HAVE_SUBFILING_VFD)          
+            if (vfd_info->u.value == H5_VFD_SUBFILING) {
+               if (H5Pset_fapl_subfiling(fapl_id,
+                                         (const H5FD_subfiling_config_t *)vfd_info->info) < 0)
+                 H5TOOLS_GOTO_ERROR(FAIL, "H5Pset_fapl_subfiling() failed");
+            }
+#endif          
             if (H5Pset_driver_by_value(fapl_id, vfd_info->u.value, (const char *)vfd_info->info) < 0)
                 H5TOOLS_GOTO_ERROR(FAIL, "can't load VFD plugin by driver value '%ld'",
                                    (long int)vfd_info->u.value);
diff --git a/tools/src/h5dump/h5dump.c b/tools/src/h5dump/h5dump.c
index cf296dbcb5b..4b08d1cf474 100644
--- a/tools/src/h5dump/h5dump.c
+++ b/tools/src/h5dump/h5dump.c
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ static struct h5_long_options l_opts[] = {{"attribute", require_arg, 'a'},
                                           {"vfd-name", require_arg, '5'},
                                           {"vfd-info", require_arg, '6'},
                                           {NULL, 0, '\0'}};
-
+static int      mpi_code_g;
 /*-------------------------------------------------------------------------
  * Function:    leave
  *
@@ -886,7 +886,12 @@ parse_command_line(int argc, const char *const *argv)
                     if (!vfd_info_g.info)
                         vfd_info_g.info = &hdfs_fa_g;
 #endif
-
+#if defined(H5_HAVE_PARALLEL) && defined(H5_HAVE_SUBFILING_VFD)
+                fprintf(stderr, "vfd_info_g.u.name=%s\n", vfd_info_g.u.name);
+                if (0 == strcmp(vfd_info_g.u.name, drivernames[SUBFILING_VFD_IDX])) {
+                   set_mpi(argc, argv);
+                }
+#endif
                 break;
             case 'g':
                 dump_opts.display_all = 0;
@@ -1214,12 +1219,24 @@ parse_command_line(int argc, const char *const *argv)
             case '4':
                 vfd_info_g.type    = VFD_BY_VALUE;
                 vfd_info_g.u.value = (H5FD_class_value_t)atoi(H5_optarg);
+
+#if defined(H5_HAVE_PARALLEL) && defined(H5_HAVE_SUBFILING_VFD)
+                if (vfd_info_g.u.value == H5_VFD_SUBFILING) {
+                    set_mpi(argc, argv);
+                }
+#endif
                 use_custom_vfd_g   = true;
                 break;
 
             case '5':
                 vfd_info_g.type   = VFD_BY_NAME;
                 vfd_info_g.u.name = H5_optarg;
+#if defined(H5_HAVE_PARALLEL) && defined(H5_HAVE_SUBFILING_VFD)
+                fprintf(stderr, "vfd_info_g.u.name=%s\n", vfd_info_g.u.name);
+                if (0 == strcmp(vfd_info_g.u.name, drivernames[SUBFILING_VFD_IDX])) {
+                   set_mpi(argc, argv);
+                }
+#endif
                 use_custom_vfd_g  = true;
                 break;
 
@@ -1234,8 +1251,10 @@ parse_command_line(int argc, const char *const *argv)
         }
     }
 
+
     /* If the file uses the onion VFD, get the revision number */
-    if (vfd_info_g.type == VFD_BY_NAME && vfd_info_g.u.name && !strcmp(vfd_info_g.u.name, "onion")) {
+    if (vfd_info_g.type == VFD_BY_NAME &&
+        vfd_info_g.u.name && !strcmp(vfd_info_g.u.name, "onion")) {
 
         if (vfd_info_g.info) {
             if (!strcmp(vfd_info_g.info, "revision_count"))
@@ -1257,6 +1276,7 @@ parse_command_line(int argc, const char *const *argv)
         vfd_info_g.info = &onion_fa_g;
     }
 
+
 parse_end:
     /* check for file name to be processed */
     if (argc <= H5_optind) {
@@ -1277,6 +1297,24 @@ parse_command_line(int argc, const char *const *argv)
     return hand;
 }
 
+#if defined(H5_HAVE_PARALLEL) && defined(H5_HAVE_SUBFILING_VFD)
+int
+set_mpi(argc, argv)
+{
+    int      required                        = MPI_THREAD_MULTIPLE;
+    int      provided                        = 0;
+
+    /* Initialize MPI */
+    mpi_code_g = MPI_Init_thread(&argc, &argv, required, &provided);
+    if (MPI_SUCCESS != mpi_code_g) {
+        printf("MPI_Init_thread failed with error code %d\n", mpi_code_g);
+        return 1;
+    }
+
+    return 0;
+}
+#endif
+
 /*-------------------------------------------------------------------------
  * Function:    main
  *
@@ -1358,13 +1396,14 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
         goto done;
     }
 
-    /* Enable error reporting if --enable-error-stack command line option is specified */
+    /* enable error reporting if command line option */
     h5tools_error_report();
 
     /* Initialize indexing options */
     h5trav_set_index(sort_by, sort_order);
 
     if (use_custom_vol_g || use_custom_vfd_g) {
+
         if ((fapl_id = h5tools_get_fapl(H5P_DEFAULT, use_custom_vol_g ? &vol_info_g : NULL,
                                         use_custom_vfd_g ? &vfd_info_g : NULL)) < 0) {
             error_msg("unable to create FAPL for file access\n");
@@ -1602,6 +1641,9 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
     /* To Do:  clean up XML table */
 
     leave(h5tools_getstatus());
+#if defined(H5_HAVE_PARALLEL) && defined(H5_HAVE_SUBFILING_VFD)    
+    MPI_Finalize();
+#endif    
 } /* main */
 
 /*-------------------------------------------------------------------------