diff --git a/documentation/RELEASE_NOTES.html b/documentation/RELEASE_NOTES.html
index 68463ab7e..f4370c22f 100644
--- a/documentation/RELEASE_NOTES.html
+++ b/documentation/RELEASE_NOTES.html
@@ -13,6 +13,41 @@
 
 <!-- Insert new items immediately below here ... -->
 
+<h3>Additional RELEASE file checks</h3>
+
+<p>An additional check has been added at build-time for the contents of the
+configure/RELEASE file(s), which will mostly only affect users of the Debian
+EPICS packages published by NSLS-2. Support modules may share an install path,
+but all such modules must be listed adjacent to each other in any RELEASE files
+that point to them. For example the following will fail the new checks:</p>
+
+<blockquote><pre>
+AUTOSAVE = /usr/lib/epics
+ASYN = /home/mdavidsaver/asyn
+EPICS_BASE = /usr/lib/epics
+</pre></blockquote>
+
+<p>giving the compile-time error</p>
+
+<blockquote><pre>
+This application's RELEASE file(s) define
+	EPICS_BASE = /usr/lib/epics
+after but not adjacent to
+	AUTOSAVE = /usr/lib/epics
+Module definitions that share paths must be grouped together.
+Either remove a definition, or move it to a line immediately
+above or below the other(s).
+Any non-module definitions belong in configure/CONFIG_SITE.
+</pre></blockquote>
+
+
+<p>In many cases such as the one above the order of the <tt>AUTOSAVE</tt> and
+<tt>ASYN</tt> lines can be swapped to let the checks pass, but if the
+<tt>AUTOSAVE</tt> module depended on <tt>ASYN</tt> and hence had to appear
+before it in the list this error indicates that <tt>AUTOSAVE</tt> should also be
+built in its own private area; a shared copy would likely be incompatible with
+the version of <tt>ASYN</tt> built in the home directory.</p>
+
 <h3>String field buffer overflows</h3>
 
 <p>Two buffer overflow bugs that can crash the IOC have been fixed, caused by
diff --git a/src/tools/convertRelease.pl b/src/tools/convertRelease.pl
index abf63c3ec..772ce1112 100644
--- a/src/tools/convertRelease.pl
+++ b/src/tools/convertRelease.pl
@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@ sub checkRelease {
     delete $macros{RULES};
     delete $macros{TOP};
     delete $macros{TEMPLATE_TOP};
-    
+
     while (my ($app, $path) = each %macros) {
         my %check = (TOP => $path);
         my @order = ();
@@ -240,7 +240,35 @@ sub checkRelease {
             }
         }
     }
-    print "\n" if ($status);
+
+    my @modules = @apps;
+    my $app = shift @modules;
+    my $latest = AbsPath($macros{$app});
+    my %paths = ($latest => $app);
+    foreach $app (@modules) {
+        my $path = AbsPath($macros{$app});
+        if ($path ne $latest && exists $paths{$path}) {
+            my $prev = $paths{$path};
+            print "\n" unless ($status);
+            print "This application's RELEASE file(s) define\n";
+            print "\t$app = $macros{$app}\n";
+            print "after but not adjacent to\n\t$prev = $macros{$prev}\n";
+            print "both of which resolve to $path\n"
+                if $path ne $macros{$app} || $path ne $macros{$prev};
+            $status = 2;
+        }
+        $paths{$path} = $app;
+        $latest = $path;
+    }
+    if ($status == 2) {
+        print "Module definitions that share paths must be grouped together.\n";
+        print "Either remove a definition, or move it to a line immediately\n";
+        print "above or below the other(s).\n";
+        print "Any non-module definitions belong in configure/CONFIG_SITE.\n";
+        $status = 1;
+    }
+
+    print "\n" if $status;
     exit $status;
 }