diff --git a/src/clib/pio.h b/src/clib/pio.h
index 2dd570831c5a..07f4b8b20c55 100644
--- a/src/clib/pio.h
+++ b/src/clib/pio.h
@@ -440,7 +440,7 @@ enum PIO_ERROR_HANDLERS
 #if defined(__cplusplus)
 extern "C" {
 #endif
-    const char *PIOc_strerror(int pioerr);
+    int PIOc_strerror(int pioerr, char *errstr);
     int PIOc_freedecomp(int iosysid, int ioid);
     int PIOc_inq_att (int ncid, int varid, const char *name, nc_type *xtypep, PIO_Offset *lenp); 
     int PIOc_inq_format (int ncid, int *formatp); 
diff --git a/src/clib/pioc_support.c b/src/clib/pioc_support.c
index 5c842d93984a..c60f4047a49d 100644
--- a/src/clib/pioc_support.c
+++ b/src/clib/pioc_support.c
@@ -21,43 +21,49 @@ int my_rank;
  * null is returned.
  *
  * @param pioerr the error code returned by a PIO function call. 
+ * @param errmsg Pointer that will get the error message. It will be
+ * PIO_MAX_NAME chars or less.
  *
- * @return Pointer to a constant string with the error message. 
+ * @return 0 on success
  */
-const char *PIOc_strerror(int pioerr)
+int
+PIOc_strerror(int pioerr, char *errmsg)
 {
 
     /* System error? */
     if(pioerr > 0)
     {
 	const char *cp = (const char *)strerror(pioerr);
-	if(!cp)
-	    return "Unknown Error";
-	return cp;
+	if (cp)
+	    strncpy(errmsg, cp, PIO_MAX_NAME);
+	else
+	    strcpy(errmsg, "Unknown Error");
     }
-
-    /* Not an error? */
-    if (pioerr == PIO_NOERR)
-	return "No error";
-
-    /* NetCDF error? */
+    else if (pioerr == PIO_NOERR)
+    {
+	strcpy(errmsg, "No error");
+    }
+    else if (pioerr <= NC2_ERR && pioerr >= NC4_LAST_ERROR)     /* NetCDF error? */
+    {
 #if defined( _PNETCDF) || defined(_NETCDF)
-    /* The if condition is somewhat confusing becuase netCDF uses
-     * negative error codes.*/
-    if (pioerr <= NC2_ERR && pioerr >= NC4_LAST_ERROR)
-	return nc_strerror(pioerr);
+	strncpy(errmsg, nc_strerror(pioerr), NC_MAX_NAME);
 #else /* defined( _PNETCDF) || defined(_NETCDF) */
-    if (pioerr <= NC2_ERR && pioerr >= NC4_LAST_ERROR)
-	return "NetCDF error code, PIO not built with netCDF.";
+	strcpy(errmsg, "NetCDF error code, PIO not built with netCDF.");
 #endif /* defined( _PNETCDF) || defined(_NETCDF) */
-	
-    /* Handle PIO errors. */
-    switch(pioerr) {
-    case PIO_EBADIOTYPE:
-	return "Bad IO type";
-    default:
-	return "unknown PIO error";
     }
+    else
+    {
+	/* Handle PIO errors. */
+	switch(pioerr) {
+	case PIO_EBADIOTYPE:
+	    strcpy(errmsg, "Bad IO type");
+	    break;
+	default:
+	    strcpy(errmsg, "unknown PIO error");
+	}
+    }
+
+    return PIO_NOERR;
 }
 
 /** Set the logging level. Set to -1 for nothing, 0 for errors only, 1
diff --git a/src/flib/pio.F90 b/src/flib/pio.F90
index c415f7a6fb30..f5115cc57223 100644
--- a/src/flib/pio.F90
+++ b/src/flib/pio.F90
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ module pio
        PIO_get_chunk_cache, &
        PIO_set_var_chunk_cache, &
        PIO_get_var_chunk_cache
+!       PIO_strerror,          &
 
   use pionfatt_mod, only : PIO_put_att   => put_att,        &
        PIO_get_att   => get_att
diff --git a/src/flib/pio_nf.F90 b/src/flib/pio_nf.F90
index 8aa74d06f9f1..a3cd06d92b9d 100644
--- a/src/flib/pio_nf.F90
+++ b/src/flib/pio_nf.F90
@@ -37,7 +37,8 @@ module pio_nf
        pio_set_var_chunk_cache                              , &
        pio_get_var_chunk_cache                              , &
        pio_redef                                            , &
-       pio_set_log_level
+       pio_set_log_level                                    
+!       pio_strerror
 !       pio_copy_att    to be done
 
   interface pio_def_var
@@ -194,6 +195,11 @@ module pio_nf
           set_log_level                                      
   end interface pio_set_log_level
 
+  ! interface pio_strerror
+  !    module procedure &
+  !         strerror
+  ! end interface pio_strerror
+
   interface pio_inquire
      module procedure &
           inquire_desc                                      , &
@@ -678,6 +684,28 @@ end function PIOc_set_log_level
     end interface
     ierr = PIOc_set_log_level(log_level)
   end function set_log_level
+!>
+!! @defgroup PIO_strerror
+!<
+!> 
+!! @ingroup PIO_strerror
+!! Returns a descriptive string for an error code.
+!! 
+!! @param errcode the error code
+!! @retval a description of the error
+  !<
+  ! function strerror(errcode) result(errmsg)
+  !   integer, intent(in) :: errcode
+  !   Character(LEN=80) :: errmsg    
+  !   interface
+  !      Function PIOc_strerror(errcode) BIND(C)
+  !        USE ISO_C_BINDING, ONLY: C_INT, C_PTR
+  !        Integer(C_INT), VALUE :: errcode
+  !        Type(C_PTR)           :: PIOc_strerror
+  !      End Function PIOc_strerror
+  !   end interface
+  !   strerror = PIOc_strerror(errcode)
+  ! end function strerror
 !> 
 !! @public
 !! @ingroup PIO_redef
diff --git a/tests/unit/driver.F90 b/tests/unit/driver.F90
index d12d1d29cc2c..ced2c77af596 100644
--- a/tests/unit/driver.F90
+++ b/tests/unit/driver.F90
@@ -55,6 +55,8 @@ Program pio_unit_test_driver
      write(*,"(A,1x,I0,1x,A,1x,I0)") "Running unit tests with", ntasks, &
           "MPI tasks and stride of", stride
 
+!     print *, 'errcode =', -33, ' strerror = ', PIO_strerror(-33)
+
      if (stride.gt.ntasks) then
         stride = ntasks
         write(*,"(A,1x,A,I0)") "WARNING: stride value in namelist is larger than", &
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_names.c b/tests/unit/test_names.c
index 5a191dcc06df..48884eedd827 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_names.c
+++ b/tests/unit/test_names.c
@@ -171,8 +171,10 @@ check_strerror(int my_rank, int verbose) {
 
     for (int try = 0; try < NUM_TRIES; try++)
     {
+	char result[PIO_MAX_NAME];
+	
 	/* Get the error string for this errcode. */
-	strcpy(errstr, PIOc_strerror(errcode[try]));
+	PIOc_strerror(errcode[try], errstr);	
 
 	/* Check that it was as expected. */
 	if (strcmp(errstr, expected[try]))