diff --git a/HISTORY b/HISTORY
index aea254d..9bb0813 100644
--- a/HISTORY
+++ b/HISTORY
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+0.17.1 2009-11-17
+* Index ordering fix
+* Notice to install mongo_ext
+
 0.17 2009-11-16
 * Performance improvements
   * large document inserts twice as fast as 0.16
diff --git a/lib/mongo.rb b/lib/mongo.rb
index 34c5fa8..84c60a4 100644
--- a/lib/mongo.rb
+++ b/lib/mongo.rb
@@ -23,11 +23,13 @@ begin
     BSON_SERIALIZER = CBson
   rescue LoadError
     BSON_SERIALIZER = BSON
+    warn "\n**Notice: C extension not detected. This is required for optimum MongoDB Ruby driver performance."
+    warn "  You can install the extension as follows:\n  gem install mongo_ext\n"
 end
 
 module Mongo
   ASCENDING = 1
   DESCENDING = -1
 
-  VERSION = "0.17"
+  VERSION = "0.17.1"
 end
diff --git a/lib/mongo/connection.rb b/lib/mongo/connection.rb
index 5a22a22..a431dea 100644
--- a/lib/mongo/connection.rb
+++ b/lib/mongo/connection.rb
@@ -14,8 +14,6 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 # ++
 
-require 'mongo/db'
-
 module Mongo
 
   # A connection to MongoDB.