diff --git a/src/KOKKOS/kokkos.cpp b/src/KOKKOS/kokkos.cpp
index 03626a5c6c..8882c97a42 100644
--- a/src/KOKKOS/kokkos.cpp
+++ b/src/KOKKOS/kokkos.cpp
@@ -31,8 +31,13 @@ KokkosLMP::KokkosLMP(LAMMPS *lmp, int narg, char **arg) : Pointers(lmp)
   kokkos_exists = 1;
   lmp->kokkos = this;
 
+  int me = 0;
+  MPI_Comm_rank(world,&me);
+  if (me == 0) error->message(FLERR,"KOKKOS mode is enabled");
+
   // process any command-line args that invoke Kokkos settings
 
+  int ngpu = 0;
   int device = 0;
   num_threads = 1;
   numa = 1;
@@ -46,8 +51,11 @@ KokkosLMP::KokkosLMP(LAMMPS *lmp, int narg, char **arg) : Pointers(lmp)
 
     } else if (strcmp(arg[iarg],"g") == 0 ||
                strcmp(arg[iarg],"gpus") == 0) {
+#ifndef KOKKOS_HAVE_CUDA
+      error->all(FLERR,"GPUs are requested but Kokkos has not been compiled for CUDA");
+#endif
       if (iarg+2 > narg) error->all(FLERR,"Invalid Kokkos command-line args");
-      int ngpu = atoi(arg[iarg+1]);
+      ngpu = atoi(arg[iarg+1]);
 
       int skip_gpu = 9999;
       if (iarg+2 < narg && isdigit(arg[iarg+2][0])) {
@@ -88,7 +96,15 @@ KokkosLMP::KokkosLMP(LAMMPS *lmp, int narg, char **arg) : Pointers(lmp)
 
   // initialize Kokkos
 
+  if (me == 0) {
+    if (screen) fprintf(screen,"  using %d GPU(s)\n",ngpu);
+    if (logfile) fprintf(logfile,"  using %d GPU(s)\n",ngpu);
+  }
+
 #ifdef KOKKOS_HAVE_CUDA
+  if (ngpu <= 0)
+    error->all(FLERR,"Kokkos has been compiled for CUDA but no GPUs are requested");
+
   Kokkos::HostSpace::execution_space::initialize(num_threads,numa);
   Kokkos::Cuda::SelectDevice select_device(device);
   Kokkos::Cuda::initialize(select_device);
diff --git a/src/lammps.cpp b/src/lammps.cpp
index bb1f0e507c..94a267db8a 100644
--- a/src/lammps.cpp
+++ b/src/lammps.cpp
@@ -500,9 +500,6 @@ LAMMPS::LAMMPS(int narg, char **arg, MPI_Comm communicator)
       error->all(FLERR,"Cannot use -kokkos on without KOKKOS installed");
   }
 
-  MPI_Comm_rank(world,&me);
-  if (kokkos && me == 0) error->message(FLERR,"KOKKOS mode is enabled");
-
   // allocate CiteMe class if enabled
 
   if (citeflag) citeme = new CiteMe(this);