diff --git a/repmgr-action-standby.c b/repmgr-action-standby.c
index eb81edbc..aa99e1cf 100644
--- a/repmgr-action-standby.c
+++ b/repmgr-action-standby.c
@@ -4064,10 +4064,31 @@ do_standby_switchover(void)
 
 				if (remote_error == REMOTE_ERROR_DB_CONNECTION)
 				{
+					PQExpBufferData ssh_command;
+
 					/* can happen if the connection configuration is not consistent across nodes */
 					log_detail(_("an error was encountered when attempting to connect to PostgreSQL on node \"%s\" (ID: %i)"),
 							   remote_node_record.node_name,
 							   remote_node_record.node_id);
+
+					/* output a helpful hint to help diagnose the issue */
+					initPQExpBuffer(&remote_command_str);
+					make_remote_repmgr_path(&remote_command_str, &remote_node_record);
+
+					appendPQExpBufferStr(&remote_command_str, "node check --db-connection");
+
+					initPQExpBuffer(&ssh_command);
+
+					make_remote_command(remote_host,
+										runtime_options.remote_user,
+										remote_command_str.data,
+										config_file_options.ssh_options,
+										&ssh_command);
+
+					log_hint(_("diagnose with:\n  %s"), ssh_command.data);
+
+					termPQExpBuffer(&remote_command_str);
+					termPQExpBuffer(&ssh_command);
 				}
 				else if (remote_error == REMOTE_ERROR_CONNINFO_PARSE)
 				{
diff --git a/sysutils.c b/sysutils.c
index 65e6a5d0..05df4d97 100644
--- a/sysutils.c
+++ b/sysutils.c
@@ -118,28 +118,13 @@ remote_command(const char *host, const char *user, const char *command, const ch
 {
 	FILE	   *fp;
 	PQExpBufferData ssh_command;
-	PQExpBufferData ssh_host;
 
 	char		output[MAXLEN] = "";
 
-	initPQExpBuffer(&ssh_host);
-
-	if (*user != '\0')
-	{
-		appendPQExpBuffer(&ssh_host, "%s@", user);
-	}
-
-	appendPQExpBufferStr(&ssh_host, host);
 
 	initPQExpBuffer(&ssh_command);
 
-	appendPQExpBuffer(&ssh_command,
-					  "ssh -o Batchmode=yes %s %s %s",
-					  ssh_options,
-					  ssh_host.data,
-					  command);
-
-	termPQExpBuffer(&ssh_host);
+	make_remote_command(host, user, command, ssh_options, &ssh_command);
 
 	log_debug("remote_command():\n  %s", ssh_command.data);
 
@@ -187,6 +172,32 @@ remote_command(const char *host, const char *user, const char *command, const ch
 }
 
 
+void
+make_remote_command(const char *host, const char *user, const char *command, const char *ssh_options, PQExpBufferData *ssh_command)
+{
+	PQExpBufferData ssh_host;
+
+	initPQExpBuffer(&ssh_host);
+
+	if (*user != '\0')
+	{
+		appendPQExpBuffer(&ssh_host, "%s@", user);
+	}
+
+	appendPQExpBufferStr(&ssh_host, host);
+
+
+	appendPQExpBuffer(ssh_command,
+					  "ssh -o Batchmode=yes %s %s %s",
+					  ssh_options,
+					  ssh_host.data,
+					  command);
+
+	termPQExpBuffer(&ssh_host);
+
+}
+
+
 pid_t
 disable_wal_receiver(PGconn *conn)
 {
diff --git a/sysutils.h b/sysutils.h
index 64195584..727f8fad 100644
--- a/sysutils.h
+++ b/sysutils.h
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ extern bool local_command_return_value(const char *command, PQExpBufferData *out
 extern bool local_command_simple(const char *command, PQExpBufferData *outputbuf);
 
 extern bool remote_command(const char *host, const char *user, const char *command, const char *ssh_options, PQExpBufferData *outputbuf);
+extern void make_remote_command(const char *host, const char *user, const char *command, const char *ssh_options, PQExpBufferData *ssh_command);
 
 extern pid_t disable_wal_receiver(PGconn *conn);
 extern pid_t enable_wal_receiver(PGconn *conn, bool wait_startup);