diff --git a/src/emu/romload.c b/src/emu/romload.c
index 81539f92a0b..56943bbb94d 100644
--- a/src/emu/romload.c
+++ b/src/emu/romload.c
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ struct _romload_private
 	int				system_bios;		/* the system BIOS we wish to load */
 
 	int				warnings;			/* warning count during processing */
+	int				knownbad;			/* BAD_DUMP/NO_DUMP count during processing */
 	int				errors;				/* error count during processing */
 
 	int				romsloaded;			/* current ROMs loaded count */
@@ -431,7 +432,7 @@ static void handle_missing_file(rom_load_data *romdata, const rom_entry *romp)
 	else if (ROM_NOGOODDUMP(romp))
 	{
 		romdata->errorstring.catprintf("%s NOT FOUND (NO GOOD DUMP KNOWN)\n", ROM_GETNAME(romp));
-		romdata->warnings++;
+		romdata->knownbad++;
 	}
 
 	/* anything else is bad */
@@ -521,7 +522,7 @@ static void verify_length_and_hash(rom_load_data *romdata, const char *name, UIN
 	if (hash_data_has_info(hash, HASH_INFO_NO_DUMP))
 	{
 		romdata->errorstring.catprintf("%s NO GOOD DUMP KNOWN\n", name);
-		romdata->warnings++;
+		romdata->knownbad++;
 	}
 	/* verify checksums */
 	else if (!hash_data_is_equal(hash, acthash, 0))
@@ -537,7 +538,7 @@ static void verify_length_and_hash(rom_load_data *romdata, const char *name, UIN
 	else if (hash_data_has_info(hash, HASH_INFO_BAD_DUMP))
 	{
 		romdata->errorstring.catprintf("%s ROM NEEDS REDUMP\n",name);
-		romdata->warnings++;
+		romdata->knownbad++;
 	}
 }
 
@@ -581,7 +582,7 @@ static void display_rom_load_results(rom_load_data *romdata)
 	}
 
 	/* if we had warnings, output them, but continue */
-	if (romdata->warnings)
+	if ((romdata-> warnings) || (romdata->knownbad))
 	{
 		romdata->errorstring.cat("WARNING: the "GAMENOUN" might not run correctly.");
 		mame_printf_warning("%s\n", romdata->errorstring.cstr());
@@ -1275,7 +1276,9 @@ static void process_disk_entries(rom_load_data *romdata, const char *regiontag,
 					romdata->errorstring.catprintf("%s CHD ERROR: %s\n", filename.cstr(), chd_error_string(err));
 
 				/* if this is NO_DUMP, keep going, though the system may not be able to handle it */
-				if (hash_data_has_info(ROM_GETHASHDATA(romp), HASH_INFO_NO_DUMP) || DISK_ISOPTIONAL(romp))
+				if (hash_data_has_info(ROM_GETHASHDATA(romp), HASH_INFO_NO_DUMP))
+					romdata->knownbad++;
+				else if (DISK_ISOPTIONAL(romp))
 					romdata->warnings++;
 				else
 					romdata->errors++;
@@ -1297,7 +1300,7 @@ static void process_disk_entries(rom_load_data *romdata, const char *regiontag,
 			else if (hash_data_has_info(ROM_GETHASHDATA(romp), HASH_INFO_BAD_DUMP))
 			{
 				romdata->errorstring.catprintf("%s CHD NEEDS REDUMP\n", filename.cstr());
-				romdata->warnings++;
+				romdata->knownbad++;
 			}
 
 			/* if not read-only, make the diff file */
@@ -1608,3 +1611,14 @@ int rom_load_warnings(running_machine *machine)
 {
 	return machine->romload_data->warnings;
 }
+
+
+/*-------------------------------------------------
+    rom_load_knownbad - return the number of
+    BAD_DUMP/NO_DUMP warnings we generated
+-------------------------------------------------*/
+
+int rom_load_knownbad(running_machine *machine)
+{
+	return machine->romload_data->knownbad;
+}
diff --git a/src/emu/romload.h b/src/emu/romload.h
index 039042ffae4..b4d8584f7f2 100644
--- a/src/emu/romload.h
+++ b/src/emu/romload.h
@@ -273,12 +273,15 @@ struct rom_entry
 
 /* ----- ROM processing ----- */
 
-/* load the ROMs and open the disk  images associated with the given machine */
+/* load the ROMs and open the disk images associated with the given machine */
 void rom_init(running_machine *machine);
 
 /* return the number of warnings we generated */
 int rom_load_warnings(running_machine *machine);
 
+/* return the number of BAD_DUMP/NO_DUMP warnings we generated */
+int rom_load_knownbad(running_machine *machine);
+
 
 /* ----- Helpers ----- */
 
diff --git a/src/emu/ui.c b/src/emu/ui.c
index cf6b1be3087..28b7927ab27 100644
--- a/src/emu/ui.c
+++ b/src/emu/ui.c
@@ -912,7 +912,7 @@ static astring &warnings_string(running_machine *machine, astring &string)
 	string.reset();
 
 	/* if no warnings, nothing to return */
-	if (rom_load_warnings(machine) == 0 && !(machine->gamedrv->flags & WARNING_FLAGS))
+	if (rom_load_warnings(machine) == 0 && rom_load_knownbad(machine) == 0 && !(machine->gamedrv->flags & WARNING_FLAGS))
 		return string;
 
 	/* add a warning if any ROMs were loaded with warnings */
@@ -924,10 +924,14 @@ static astring &warnings_string(running_machine *machine, astring &string)
 	}
 
 	/* if we have at least one warning flag, print the general header */
-	if (machine->gamedrv->flags & WARNING_FLAGS)
+	if ((machine->gamedrv->flags & WARNING_FLAGS) || rom_load_knownbad(machine) > 0)
 	{
 		string.cat("There are known problems with this " GAMENOUN "\n\n");
 
+		/* add a warning if any ROMs are flagged BAD_DUMP/NO_DUMP */
+		if (rom_load_knownbad(machine) > 0)
+			string.cat("One or more ROMs/CHDs for this "  GAMENOUN " are known to be bad or missing.  As a result the " GAMENOUN " may not work correctly.  You may be missing graphics, sound or other essential gameplay elements until the proper data is found.\n");
+
 		/* add one line per warning flag */
 		if (input_machine_has_keyboard(machine))
 			string.cat("The keyboard emulation may not be 100% accurate.\n");