diff --git a/doc/fixes37.0 b/doc/fixes37.0
index 003e9342d..f9f60be61 100644
--- a/doc/fixes37.0
+++ b/doc/fixes37.0
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-$NHDT-Branch: NetHack-3.7 $:$NHDT-Revision: 1.8 $ $NHDT-Date: 1557663358 2019/05/12 12:15:58 $
+$NHDT-Branch: NetHack-3.7 $:$NHDT-Revision: 1.17 $ $NHDT-Date: 1575542023 2019/12/05 10:33:43 $
 
 General Fixes and Modified Features
 -----------------------------------
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ hero polymorphed into a vampire can use #monster to shape-shift rather than
 adjust bones filename buffer sizes to accommodate suffix
 fix internal self-recover to work with recent fields added to checkpoint file
 improvements to pronoun usage when hallucinating
+message "your knapsack can't accomodate any more items" when picking stuff up
+	or removing such from container was inaccurate if there was some gold
+	pending; vary the message rather than add more convoluted pickup code
 
 
 Fixes to Pre-3.7.0 Problems that Were Exposed Via git Repository
diff --git a/src/pickup.c b/src/pickup.c
index 67921de6f..49fbc609b 100644
--- a/src/pickup.c
+++ b/src/pickup.c
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/* NetHack 3.6	pickup.c	$NHDT-Date: 1574982023 2019/11/28 23:00:23 $  $NHDT-Branch: NetHack-3.7 $:$NHDT-Revision: 1.249 $ */
+/* NetHack 3.6	pickup.c	$NHDT-Date: 1575542023 2019/12/05 10:33:43 $  $NHDT-Branch: NetHack-3.7 $:$NHDT-Revision: 1.251 $ */
 /* Copyright (c) Stichting Mathematisch Centrum, Amsterdam, 1985. */
 /*-Copyright (c) Robert Patrick Rankin, 2012. */
 /* NetHack may be freely redistributed.  See license for details. */
@@ -1412,7 +1412,14 @@ boolean telekinesis;
                /* [exception for gold coins will have to change
                    if silver/copper ones ever get implemented] */
                && inv_cnt(FALSE) >= 52 && !merge_choice(g.invent, obj)) {
-        Your("knapsack cannot accommodate any more items.");
+        /* if there is some gold here (and we haven't already skipped it),
+           we aren't limited by the 52 item limit for it, but caller and
+           "grandcaller" aren't prepared to skip stuff and then pickup
+           just gold, so the best we can do here is vary the message */
+        Your("knapsack cannot accommodate any more items%s.",
+             /* floor follows by nexthere, otherwise container so by nobj */
+             nxtobj(obj, GOLD_PIECE, (boolean) (obj->where == OBJ_FLOOR))
+                 ? " (except gold)" : "");
         result = -1; /* nothing lifted */
     } else {
         result = 1;