diff --git a/uts/common/fs/zfs/vdev.c b/uts/common/fs/zfs/vdev.c
index 388d13716c9f..e23e4a01c1e3 100644
--- a/uts/common/fs/zfs/vdev.c
+++ b/uts/common/fs/zfs/vdev.c
@@ -1585,7 +1585,8 @@ vdev_validate(vdev_t *vd)
 	if ((label = vdev_label_read_config(vd, txg)) == NULL) {
 		vdev_set_state(vd, B_TRUE, VDEV_STATE_CANT_OPEN,
 		    VDEV_AUX_BAD_LABEL);
-		vdev_dbgmsg(vd, "vdev_validate: failed reading config");
+		vdev_dbgmsg(vd, "vdev_validate: failed reading config for "
+		    "txg %llu", (u_longlong_t)txg);
 		return (0);
 	}
 
diff --git a/uts/common/fs/zfs/vdev_label.c b/uts/common/fs/zfs/vdev_label.c
index 21677dcdc203..d8a0762c426b 100644
--- a/uts/common/fs/zfs/vdev_label.c
+++ b/uts/common/fs/zfs/vdev_label.c
@@ -540,6 +540,7 @@ vdev_label_read_config(vdev_t *vd, uint64_t txg)
 	abd_t *vp_abd;
 	zio_t *zio;
 	uint64_t best_txg = 0;
+	uint64_t label_txg = 0;
 	int error = 0;
 	int flags = ZIO_FLAG_CONFIG_WRITER | ZIO_FLAG_CANFAIL |
 	    ZIO_FLAG_SPECULATIVE;
@@ -565,8 +566,6 @@ retry:
 		if (zio_wait(zio) == 0 &&
 		    nvlist_unpack(vp->vp_nvlist, sizeof (vp->vp_nvlist),
 		    &label, 0) == 0) {
-			uint64_t label_txg = 0;
-
 			/*
 			 * Auxiliary vdevs won't have txg values in their
 			 * labels and newly added vdevs may not have been
@@ -597,6 +596,15 @@ retry:
 		goto retry;
 	}
 
+	/*
+	 * We found a valid label but it didn't pass txg restrictions.
+	 */
+	if (config == NULL && label_txg != 0) {
+		vdev_dbgmsg(vd, "label discarded as txg is too large "
+		    "(%llu > %llu)", (u_longlong_t)label_txg,
+		    (u_longlong_t)txg);
+	}
+
 	abd_free(vp_abd);
 
 	return (config);