diff --git a/src/docs/show-help-files/help-prte-runtime.txt b/src/docs/show-help-files/help-prte-runtime.txt
index 24b22bde2e..912ae7607a 100644
--- a/src/docs/show-help-files/help-prte-runtime.txt
+++ b/src/docs/show-help-files/help-prte-runtime.txt
@@ -144,3 +144,43 @@ other nodes using the "prte_remote_tmpdir_base" param.
 This is only a warning advisory and your job will continue. You can
 disable this warning in the future by setting the
 "prte_silence_shared_fs" MCA param to "1".
+
+[prte:slurm:envar]
+PRTE detected the presence of an MCA parameter in the environment that
+assigns custom command line arguments to the `srun` command used to
+start PRTE's daemons on remote nodes:
+
+  Paramater value: %s
+
+This warning is provided to alert you (the user) that this parameter
+value will be ignored.
+
+Background: Starting with Slurm version 23.11, a command line argument
+(`--external-launcher`) was added to `srun` to indicate that the
+command was being initiated from within a third-party launcher (e.g.,
+`prte` or `prterun`). This allows Slurm to essentially freely modify
+the `srun` command line while retaining a backward compatibility
+capability when explicitly told to use it.  Notably, Slurm
+did this by automatically setting the PRTE_MCA_plm_slurm_args environment
+variable to pass in its own command line arguments.
+
+Unfortunately, this had the side effect of overriding most user- or
+system-level settings. In addition, arguments passed on the
+PRTE command line overrode any Slurm setting of the environment
+variable, but with potentially undesirable side effects if newer
+versions of `srun` misinterpret or fail to understand the user-specified
+arguments.
+
+PRRTE now directly determines the `srun` version and sets its `srun` cmd
+line arguments accordingly. These arguments are set in addition to any
+provided by the user, and therefore the user no longer needs to concern
+themselves with changes induced by Slurm.
+
+If the setting of the MCA parameter was intentional, or if the
+parameter value looks acceptable to you, then please set the MCA parameter
+either in the default MCA param file (either the system or user-level file),
+or on the cmd line:
+
+  Cmd line: --prtemca plm_slurm_args %s
+  Default MCA param file: plm_slurm_args = %s
+
diff --git a/src/runtime/prte_init.c b/src/runtime/prte_init.c
index e76e3e49cc..638a1b4002 100644
--- a/src/runtime/prte_init.c
+++ b/src/runtime/prte_init.c
@@ -172,24 +172,6 @@ int prte_init_minimum(void)
         return PRTE_ERR_SILENT;
     }
 
-    /* Protect against the envar version of the Slurm
-     * custom args MCA param. This is an unfortunate
-     * hack that hopefully will eventually go away.
-     * See both of the following for detailed
-     * explanations and discussion:
-     *
-     * https://github.com/openpmix/prrte/issues/1974
-     * https://github.com/open-mpi/ompi/issues/12471
-     *
-     * Orgs/users wanting to add custom args to the
-     * internal "srun" command used to spawn the
-     * PRRTE daemons must do so via the default MCA
-     * param files (system or user), or via the
-     * prterun (or its proxy) cmd line
-     */
-    unsetenv("PRTE_MCA_plm_slurm_args");
-    unsetenv("OMPI_MCA_plm_slurm_args");
-
     /* carry across the toolname */
     pmix_tool_basename = prte_tool_basename;
 
@@ -239,6 +221,31 @@ int prte_init_minimum(void)
         return ret;
     }
 
+    /* Protect against the envar version of the Slurm
+     * custom args MCA param. This is an unfortunate
+     * hack that hopefully will eventually go away.
+     * See both of the following for detailed
+     * explanations and discussion:
+     *
+     * https://github.com/openpmix/prrte/issues/1974
+     * https://github.com/open-mpi/ompi/issues/12471
+     *
+     * Orgs/users wanting to add custom args to the
+     * internal "srun" command used to spawn the
+     * PRRTE daemons must do so via the default MCA
+     * param files (system or user), or via the
+     * prterun (or its proxy) cmd line
+     */
+    if (NULL != (evar = getenv("PRTE_MCA_plm_slurm_args"))) {
+        pmix_show_help("help-prte-runtime.txt", "prte:slurm:envar", true,
+                       evar, evar, evar);
+        return PRTE_ERR_SILENT;
+    } else if (NULL != (evar = getenv("OMPI_MCA_plm_slurm_args"))) {
+        pmix_show_help("help-prte-runtime.txt", "prte:slurm:envar", true,
+                       evar, evar, evar);
+        return PRTE_ERR_SILENT;
+    }
+
     /* pre-load any default mca param files */
     prte_preload_default_mca_params();