diff --git a/src/margo-core.c b/src/margo-core.c
index d6a90ab..318f867 100644
--- a/src/margo-core.c
+++ b/src/margo-core.c
@@ -1965,47 +1965,40 @@ void __margo_hg_progress_fn(void* foo)
             ret = margo_internal_trigger(mid, 0, 1, &actual_count);
         } while ((ret == HG_SUCCESS) && actual_count
                  && !mid->hg_progress_shutdown_flag);
-        /* once we have processed callbacks, give the ES an opportunity to
-         * run other ULTs if it needs to.
+
+        /* Yield now to give an opportunity for this ES to either a) run other
+         * ULTs that are eligible in this pool or b) check for runnable ULTs
+         * in other pools that the ES is associated with.
          */
         ABT_thread_yield();
 
-        /* Check to see if there are any runnable ULTs in the pool now.  If
-         * so, then we yield here to allow them a chance to execute.
-         * We check here because new ULTs may now be elegible as a result of
-         * being spawned by the trigger, but existing ones also may have been
-         * activated by an external event.
-         *
-         * NOTE: the output size value does not count the calling ULT itself,
-         * because it is not technically in the pool as a runnable thread at
-         * the moment.
-         */
-        ABT_pool progress_pool = MARGO_PROGRESS_POOL(mid);
-        ABT_pool_get_size(progress_pool, &size);
-        if (size) ABT_thread_yield();
-
-        /* Are there any other threads in this pool that *might* need to
-         * execute at some point in the future?  If so, then it's not
-         * necessarily safe for Mercury to sleep here in progress.  It
-         * doesn't matter whether they are runnable now or not, because an
-         * external event could resume them.
+        /* Determine if it is reasonably safe to briefly block on Mercury
+         * progress.  We check two conditions: are there any RPCs currently
+         * being processed (i.e. pending_operations) or are there any other
+         * threads assicated with the current pool that might become
+         * runnable while this thread is blocked.  If either condition is
+         * met, then we use a zero timeout to Mercury to avoid blocking this
+         * ULT for too long.
          *
-         * NOTE: we use ABT_pool_get_total_size() rather than
-         * ABT_pool_get_size() in order to include suspended ULTs in our
-         * count.  Note that this function *does* count the caller, so it
-         * will always be at least one, unlike ABT_pool_get_size().
-         */
-        ABT_pool_get_total_size(progress_pool, &size);
-
-        /* Are there any RPCs in flight, regardless of what pool they were
-         * issued to?  If so, then we also cannot block in Mercury, because
-         * they may issue self forward() calls that cannot complete until we
-         * get through this progress/trigger cycle
+         * Note that there is no easy way to determine if this ES is expected to
+         * also execute work in other pools, so we may still introduce
+         * hg_progress_timeout_ub of latency in that configuration scenario.
+         * Latency-sensitive use cases should avoid running the Margo
+         * progress function in pools that share execution streams with
+         * other pools.
          */
         ABT_mutex_lock(mid->pending_operations_mtx);
         pending = mid->pending_operations;
         ABT_mutex_unlock(mid->pending_operations_mtx);
 
+        /*
+         * Note that we intentionally use get_total_size() rather than
+         * get_size() to make sure that we count suspended ULTs, not just
+         * currently runnable ULTs.  The resulting count includes this ULT
+         * so we look for a count > 1 instead of a count > 0.
+         */
+        ABT_pool_get_total_size(MARGO_PROGRESS_POOL(mid), &size);
+
         if (pending || size > 1) {
             hg_progress_timeout = 0;
         } else {