diff --git a/darshan-runtime/configure.ac b/darshan-runtime/configure.ac
index b36444c8a..4d3618410 100644
--- a/darshan-runtime/configure.ac
+++ b/darshan-runtime/configure.ac
@@ -598,14 +598,6 @@ if test "x$enable_darshan_runtime" = xyes ; then
       AC_MSG_ERROR(must provide --with-jobid-env=<name> argument to configure.)
    fi
 
-   __DARSHAN_LOG_HINTS_DEFAULT="romio_no_indep_rw=true;cb_nodes=4"
-   if test "x$GOT_LOG_HINTS" != xyes ; then
-      dnl use default hints
-      AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED([__DARSHAN_LOG_HINTS], "$__DARSHAN_LOG_HINTS_DEFAULT",
-                         [Comma-separated list of MPI-IO hints for log file write])
-      __DARSHAN_LOG_HINTS=$__DARSHAN_LOG_HINTS_DEFAULT
-   fi
-
    # checks to see how we can print 64 bit values on this architecture
    gt_INTTYPES_PRI
    if test "x$PRI_MACROS_BROKEN" = x1; then
@@ -694,6 +686,48 @@ if test "x$enable_darshan_runtime" = xyes ; then
 
       if test "x$is_ompi" = x1 ; then
          AC_DEFINE(HAVE_OPEN_MPI, 1, [Define if OpenMPI is being used])
+
+         dnl Check if version is 5.0.6 or later
+         AC_MSG_CHECKING([Check if OpenMPI version is 5.0.6 or later])
+         AC_COMPILE_IFELSE([AC_LANG_PROGRAM([[#include <mpi.h>
+#if (OMPI_MAJOR_VERSION*1000000 + OMPI_MINOR_VERSION*1000 + OMPI_RELEASE_VERSION < 5000006)
+      choke me
+#endif
+         ]])], [ompi_ge_5_0_6=1], [ompi_ge_5_0_6=0])
+         AC_MSG_RESULT([$ompi_ge_5_0_6])
+         AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED(OMPI_GE_5_0_6, [$ompi_ge_5_0_6],
+                   [Define if OpenMPI version is 5.0.6 or later])
+      fi
+
+      if test "x$GOT_LOG_HINTS" != xyes ; then
+         # set default hints
+         __DARSHAN_LOG_HINTS_DEFAULT="romio_no_indep_rw=true;cb_nodes=4"
+
+         if test "x$is_ompi" = x1 ; then
+            # OpenMPI 5.0.5 and priors contain a bug that can corrupt the
+            # Darshan log files. The bug is related to file locking protocols
+            # implemented when data sieving is enabled. Setting hint cb_nodes
+            # to 1 can avoid the bug, but may make writing log files slow.
+            # For more information, see PR 1070,
+            # https://github.com/darshan-hpc/darshan/pull/1070
+            #
+            # However, 5.0.6 and later can cause serialization of file writes
+            # See https://github.com/open-mpi/ompi/issues/13376
+            # To mimize the performance impact of writing the log file, we set
+            # hint cb_nodes to 1.
+            #
+            # Note hint romio_no_indep_rw is an MPI thing, not implemented in
+            # OpenMPI.
+            #
+            __DARSHAN_LOG_HINTS_DEFAULT="cb_nodes=1"
+
+            # if test "x$ompi_ge_5_0_6" = x0 ; then
+            #    __DARSHAN_LOG_HINTS_DEFAULT="romio_no_indep_rw=true;cb_nodes=1"
+            # else
+            #    __DARSHAN_LOG_HINTS_DEFAULT="romio_no_indep_rw=true;cb_nodes=4"
+            # fi
+         fi
+         __DARSHAN_LOG_HINTS=$__DARSHAN_LOG_HINTS_DEFAULT
       fi
 
       # determine if the MPI library includes MPI-IO functions or not
@@ -889,6 +923,10 @@ else
    is_ompi=0
 fi
 
+# __DARSHAN_LOG_HINTS is used by both MPI and non-MPI configurations
+AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED([__DARSHAN_LOG_HINTS], "$__DARSHAN_LOG_HINTS",
+                   [Comma-separated list of MPI-IO hints for log file write])
+
 AC_SUBST(ENABLE_LD_PRELOAD, ["$enable_ld_preload"])
 AC_SUBST(ENABLE_CUSERID, ["$enable_cuserid"])
 AC_SUBST(ENABLE_GROUP_READABLE_LOGS, ["$enable_group_readable_logs"])
@@ -923,6 +961,7 @@ AC_SUBST(PNETCDF_PATH, ["$with_pnetcdf"])
 AC_SUBST(DAOS_PATH, ["$with_daos"])
 AC_SUBST(LDMS_PATH, ["$LDMS_HOME"])
 AC_SUBST(HAVE_OPEN_MPI, ["$is_ompi"])
+AC_SUBST(OMPI_GE_5_0_6, ["$ompi_ge_5_0_6"])
 
 AM_CONDITIONAL(ENABLE_MMAP_LOGS,    [test "x$enable_mmap_logs"   = xyes])
 AM_CONDITIONAL(ENABLE_LDPRELOAD,    [test "x$enable_ld_preload"  = xyes])
diff --git a/darshan-runtime/test/tst_runs.sh b/darshan-runtime/test/tst_runs.sh
index 00a98cb9f..63192e4aa 100755
--- a/darshan-runtime/test/tst_runs.sh
+++ b/darshan-runtime/test/tst_runs.sh
@@ -1,19 +1,11 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
+# Note this script is run during "make check" and "make install" must
+# run before "make check".
+
 # Exit immediately if a command exits with a non-zero status.
 set -e
 
-TODAY_DATE_PATH=`date "+%Y/%-m/%-d"`
-TST_DARSHAN_LOG_PATH="${TST_DARSHAN_LOG_PATH}/${TODAY_DATE_PATH}"
-mkdir -p ${TST_DARSHAN_LOG_PATH}
-
-# check what file system is used
-echo "df -T ${TST_DARSHAN_LOG_PATH}"
-df -T ${TST_DARSHAN_LOG_PATH}
-
-echo "findmnt -n -o FSTYPE --target ${TST_DARSHAN_LOG_PATH}"
-findmnt -n -o FSTYPE --target ${TST_DARSHAN_LOG_PATH}
-
 if test "x$USERNAME_ENV" = xno ; then
    USERNAME_ENV=$USER
 fi
@@ -31,6 +23,36 @@ else
    DARSHAN_CONFIG=../../darshan-util/darshan-config
 fi
 echo "DARSHAN_CONFIG=$DARSHAN_CONFIG"
+echo ""
+
+TODAY_DATE_PATH=`date "+%Y/%-m/%-d"`
+LOG_PATH_ENV=`$DARSHAN_CONFIG --log-path-by-env`
+if test "x${LOG_PATH_ENV}" != x ; then
+   if test "x${!LOG_PATH_ENV}" = x ; then
+      echo ""
+      echo "Warning: ---------------------------------------------------------"
+      echo "    Darshan was configure with --log-path-by-env set to $LOG_PATH_ENV"
+      echo "    but this run-time environment variable is currently not set !"
+      echo "    Darshan now uses the path set in configure option of --log-path :"
+      echo "        $TST_DARSHAN_LOG_PATH"
+      echo "------------------------------------------------------------------"
+      echo ""
+      TST_DARSHAN_LOG_PATH="${TST_DARSHAN_LOG_PATH}/${TODAY_DATE_PATH}"
+   else
+      TST_DARSHAN_LOG_PATH="${!LOG_PATH_ENV}"
+   fi
+else
+   TST_DARSHAN_LOG_PATH="${TST_DARSHAN_LOG_PATH}/${TODAY_DATE_PATH}"
+fi
+echo "TST_DARSHAN_LOG_PATH=$TST_DARSHAN_LOG_PATH"
+mkdir -p ${TST_DARSHAN_LOG_PATH}
+
+# check what file system is used
+echo "df -T ${TST_DARSHAN_LOG_PATH}"
+df -T ${TST_DARSHAN_LOG_PATH}
+
+echo "findmnt -n -o FSTYPE --target ${TST_DARSHAN_LOG_PATH}"
+findmnt -n -o FSTYPE --target ${TST_DARSHAN_LOG_PATH}
 
 $DARSHAN_CONFIG --all