diff --git a/src/gda/backend_gda.cpp b/src/gda/backend_gda.cpp
index 4f47d0af32..daa7c2f28b 100644
--- a/src/gda/backend_gda.cpp
+++ b/src/gda/backend_gda.cpp
@@ -603,6 +603,7 @@ bool GDABackend::has_active_ib_interface(GDAProvider provider) {
   }
 
   for (int i = 0; i < num_devices && !has_active; i++) {
+    DPRINTF("ibv.open device[%d] of %d\n", i, num_devices);
     struct ibv_context *context = ibv.open_device(device_list[i]);
     if (!context) {
       continue;
@@ -659,7 +660,7 @@ int GDABackend::backend_can_run() {
     handle = bnxt_dv_dlopen();
     if (handle) {
       auto ret = has_active_ib_interface(GDAProvider::BNXT);
-      dlclose(handle);
+//      dlclose(handle); //TODO: unloading the lib crashes the next call to ibv_open_device
       if (ret) return ROCSHMEM_SUCCESS;
       DPRINTF("BNXT DV library found but no active InfiniBand interface available\n");
     }
@@ -672,7 +673,7 @@ int GDABackend::backend_can_run() {
     handle = ionic_dv_dlopen();
     if (handle) {
       auto ret = has_active_ib_interface(GDAProvider::IONIC);
-      dlclose(handle);
+//      dlclose(handle); //TODO: unloading the lib crashes the next call to ibv_open_device
       if (ret) return ROCSHMEM_SUCCESS;
       DPRINTF("IONIC DV library found but no active InfiniBand interface available\n");
     }
@@ -685,7 +686,7 @@ int GDABackend::backend_can_run() {
     handle = mlx5_dv_dlopen();
     if (handle) {
       auto ret = has_active_ib_interface(GDAProvider::MLX5);
-      dlclose(handle);
+//      dlclose(handle); //TODO: unloading the lib crashes the next call to ibv_open_device
       if (ret) return ROCSHMEM_SUCCESS;
       DPRINTF("MLX5 DV library found but no active InfiniBand interface available\n");
     }
diff --git a/src/gda/bnxt/backend_gda_bnxt.cpp b/src/gda/bnxt/backend_gda_bnxt.cpp
index 80c67c2143..04f79ede05 100644
--- a/src/gda/bnxt/backend_gda_bnxt.cpp
+++ b/src/gda/bnxt/backend_gda_bnxt.cpp
@@ -264,10 +264,10 @@ void GDABackend::bnxt_create_qps(int sq_length) {
 
 void* GDABackend::bnxt_dv_dlopen() {
   void* dv_handle{nullptr};
-  dv_handle = dlopen("libbnxt_re.so", RTLD_NOW);
+  dv_handle = dlopen("libbnxt_re.so", RTLD_LAZY);
   if (!dv_handle) {
     // Try hard-coded PATH
-    dv_handle = dlopen("/usr/local/lib/libbnxt_re.so", RTLD_NOW);
+    dv_handle = dlopen("/usr/local/lib/libbnxt_re.so", RTLD_LAZY);
     if (!dv_handle) {
       DPRINTF("Could not open libbnxt_re.so. Returning\n");
     }
diff --git a/src/gda/ionic/backend_gda_ionic.cpp b/src/gda/ionic/backend_gda_ionic.cpp
index dfa56d62bf..98bd31dca8 100644
--- a/src/gda/ionic/backend_gda_ionic.cpp
+++ b/src/gda/ionic/backend_gda_ionic.cpp
@@ -132,10 +132,10 @@ void GDABackend::ionic_setup_parent_domain(struct ibv_parent_domain_init_attr* p
 
 void* GDABackend::ionic_dv_dlopen() {
   void* dv_handle{nullptr};
-  dv_handle = dlopen("libionic.so", RTLD_NOW);
+  dv_handle = dlopen("libionic.so", RTLD_LAZY);
   if (!dv_handle) {
     // Try hard-coded PATH
-    dv_handle = dlopen("/usr/local/lib/libionic.so", RTLD_NOW);
+    dv_handle = dlopen("/usr/local/lib/libionic.so", RTLD_LAZY);
     if (!dv_handle) {
       DPRINTF("Could not open libionic.so. Returning\n");
     }
diff --git a/src/gda/mlx5/backend_gda_mlx5.cpp b/src/gda/mlx5/backend_gda_mlx5.cpp
index 5052808162..696208859d 100644
--- a/src/gda/mlx5/backend_gda_mlx5.cpp
+++ b/src/gda/mlx5/backend_gda_mlx5.cpp
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ namespace rocshmem {
 
 void* GDABackend::mlx5_dv_dlopen() {
   void* dv_handle{nullptr};
-  dv_handle = dlopen("libmlx5.so", RTLD_NOW);
+  dv_handle = dlopen("libmlx5.so", RTLD_LAZY);
   if (!dv_handle) {
     DPRINTF("Could not open libmlx5.so. Returning\n");
   }
diff --git a/src/ipc/backend_ipc.cpp b/src/ipc/backend_ipc.cpp
index 2e073e9c2f..1e732c8d68 100644
--- a/src/ipc/backend_ipc.cpp
+++ b/src/ipc/backend_ipc.cpp
@@ -72,7 +72,11 @@ IPCBackend::IPCBackend(MPI_Comm comm):  Backend(comm) {
    * Check if num_pes == ipcImpl.shm_size)
    * All the PEs must be with in a node for IPC conduit
    */
-  assert(num_pes == ipcImpl.shm_size);
+  if(num_pes != ipcImpl.shm_size) {
+    fprintf(stderr, "rocSHMEM: IPC Backend selected but some PEs are non-local. This is not a supported configuration.\n"
+                    "  The GDA and RO backends mix off-node -and- IPC on-node communication as needed.\n");
+    exit(1);
+  }
 
   /* Initialize the host interface */
   host_interface = std::make_shared<HostInterface>(hdp_proxy_.get(),
diff --git a/src/mpi_instance.cpp b/src/mpi_instance.cpp
index d1cbe21f2a..7255d62213 100644
--- a/src/mpi_instance.cpp
+++ b/src/mpi_instance.cpp
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ int MPIInstance::mpilib_dl_init() {
   if (mpilib_handle_ != nullptr)
       return ROCSHMEM_SUCCESS;
 
-  mpilib_handle_ = dlopen("libmpi.so", RTLD_NOW);
+  mpilib_handle_ = dlopen("libmpi.so", RTLD_LAZY);
   if (!mpilib_handle_) {
     printf("Could not open libmpi.so. Returning\n");
     return ROCSHMEM_ERROR;