I experienced the same issue, and the setting above seemed to do the trick.

THe think I'm curious about is why was it that I would get error messages sporadically, and...

What about allowing SQL Server users the ability to view linked server configuration details without being sysadmins? Is that possible?

I understand how to control access to the linked target server. I want to hide the linked server to local users, or gratn them access to view the definitions...