diff --git a/src/SMAPI/Framework/Models/SConfig.cs b/src/SMAPI/Framework/Models/SConfig.cs
index ee2dc18d..158831a9 100644
--- a/src/SMAPI/Framework/Models/SConfig.cs
+++ b/src/SMAPI/Framework/Models/SConfig.cs
@@ -146,6 +146,12 @@ namespace StardewModdingAPI.Framework.Models
                     custom[name] = value;
             }
 
+            if (this.ModsToLoadEarly.Any())
+                custom[nameof(this.ModsToLoadEarly)] = $"[{string.Join(", ", this.ModsToLoadEarly)}]";
+
+            if (this.ModsToLoadLate.Any())
+                custom[nameof(this.ModsToLoadLate)] = $"[{string.Join(", ", this.ModsToLoadLate)}]";
+
             if (!this.SuppressUpdateChecks.SetEquals(SConfig.DefaultSuppressUpdateChecks))
                 custom[nameof(this.SuppressUpdateChecks)] = $"[{string.Join(", ", this.SuppressUpdateChecks)}]";
 
diff --git a/src/SMAPI/Framework/SCore.cs b/src/SMAPI/Framework/SCore.cs
index fb835002..7f564a28 100644
--- a/src/SMAPI/Framework/SCore.cs
+++ b/src/SMAPI/Framework/SCore.cs
@@ -427,18 +427,16 @@ namespace StardewModdingAPI.Framework
                 {
                     HashSet<string> installedIds = new HashSet<string>(mods.Select(p => p.Manifest.UniqueID), StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
 
-                    foreach (string modId in this.Settings.ModsToLoadEarly)
-                    {
-                        if (!installedIds.Contains(modId))
-                            this.Monitor.Log($"  SMAPI configuration specifies a mod {modId} that should load early, but it could not be found or was skipped.", LogLevel.Warn);
-                    }
-                    foreach (string modId in this.Settings.ModsToLoadLate)
-                    {
-                        if (this.Settings.ModsToLoadEarly.Contains(modId))
-                            this.Monitor.Log($"  SMAPI configuration specifies a mod {modId} that should load both early and late - this will be ignored.", LogLevel.Warn);
-                        else if (!installedIds.Contains(modId))
-                            this.Monitor.Log($"  SMAPI configuration specifies a mod {modId} that should load late, but it could not be found or was skipped.", LogLevel.Warn);
-                    }
+                    string[] missingEarlyMods = this.Settings.ModsToLoadEarly.Where(id => !installedIds.Contains(id)).OrderBy(p => p, StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase).ToArray();
+                    string[] missingLateMods = this.Settings.ModsToLoadLate.Where(id => !installedIds.Contains(id)).OrderBy(p => p, StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase).ToArray();
+                    string[] duplicateMods = this.Settings.ModsToLoadLate.Where(id => this.Settings.ModsToLoadEarly.Contains(id)).OrderBy(p => p, StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase).ToArray();
+
+                    if (missingEarlyMods.Any())
+                        this.Monitor.Log($"  The 'smapi-internal/config.json' file lists mod IDs in {nameof(this.Settings.ModsToLoadEarly)} which aren't installed: '{string.Join("', '", missingEarlyMods)}'.", LogLevel.Warn);
+                    if (missingLateMods.Any())
+                        this.Monitor.Log($"  The 'smapi-internal/config.json' file lists mod IDs in {nameof(this.Settings.ModsToLoadLate)} which aren't installed: '{string.Join("', '", missingLateMods)}'.", LogLevel.Warn);
+                    if (duplicateMods.Any())
+                        this.Monitor.Log($"  The 'smapi-internal/config.json' file lists mod IDs which are in both {nameof(this.Settings.ModsToLoadEarly)} and {nameof(this.Settings.ModsToLoadLate)}: '{string.Join("', '", duplicateMods)}'. These will be loaded early.", LogLevel.Warn);
                 }
 
                 // load mods
diff --git a/src/SMAPI/SMAPI.config.json b/src/SMAPI/SMAPI.config.json
index 68645d24..0ab68a7d 100644
--- a/src/SMAPI/SMAPI.config.json
+++ b/src/SMAPI/SMAPI.config.json
@@ -144,12 +144,14 @@ copy all the settings, or you may cause bugs due to overridden changes in future
     ],
 
     /**
-     * The mod IDs SMAPI should try to load early, before any other mods not included in this list.
+     * The mod IDs SMAPI should load before any other mods (except those needed to load them)
+     * or after any other mods.
+     *
+     * This lets you manually fix the load order if needed, but this is a last resort — SMAPI
+     * automatically adjusts the load order based on mods' dependencies, so needing to manually
+     * edit the order is usually a problem with one or both mods' metadata that can be reported to
+     * the mod author.
      */
     "ModsToLoadEarly": [],
-
-    /**
-     * The mod IDs SMAPI should try to load late, after all other mods not included in this list.
-     */
     "ModsToLoadLate": []
 }