diff --git a/solr/CHANGES.txt b/solr/CHANGES.txt
index da645046266..741f20c5131 100644
--- a/solr/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/solr/CHANGES.txt
@@ -147,6 +147,8 @@ Bug Fixes
 
 * SOLR-17416: Fixed ExportHandler bug that silently suppressed errors and returned partial results in some situations (hossman)
 
+* SOLR-16254: Clarify when a bin/solr create needs to be run on the same server as Solr. (Eric Pugh)
+
 Dependency Upgrades
 ---------------------
 (No changes)
diff --git a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cli/AuthTool.java b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cli/AuthTool.java
index 6fbafe21d43..ca3b45176c5 100644
--- a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cli/AuthTool.java
+++ b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cli/AuthTool.java
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ public String getUsage() {
 
   @Override
   public String getHeader() {
-    return "\nUpdates or enables/disables authentication.  Must be run on the machine hosting Solr.\n"
+    return "Updates or enables/disables authentication.  Must be run on the Solr server itself.\n"
         + "\n"
         + "List of options:";
   }
diff --git a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cli/CreateTool.java b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cli/CreateTool.java
index 8bbdc8ac098..222440afd11 100644
--- a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cli/CreateTool.java
+++ b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cli/CreateTool.java
@@ -66,6 +66,14 @@ public String getName() {
     return "create";
   }
 
+  @Override
+  public String getHeader() {
+    return "Creates a core or collection depending on whether Solr is running in standalone (core) or SolrCloud mode (collection).\n"
+        + "If you are using standalone mode you must run this command on the Solr server itself.\n"
+        + "\n"
+        + "List of options:";
+  }
+
   @Override
   public List<Option> getOptions() {
     return List.of(
diff --git a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cli/DeleteTool.java b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cli/DeleteTool.java
index 1733b4bb197..b45c4c485d0 100644
--- a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cli/DeleteTool.java
+++ b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cli/DeleteTool.java
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ public String getName() {
 
   @Override
   public String getHeader() {
-    return "\nDeletes a core or collection depending on whether Solr is running in standalone (core) or SolrCloud"
+    return "Deletes a core or collection depending on whether Solr is running in standalone (core) or SolrCloud"
         + " mode (collection). If you're deleting a collection in SolrCloud mode, the default behavior is to also"
         + " delete the configuration directory from Zookeeper so long as it is not being used by another collection.\n"
         + " You can override this behavior by passing -deleteConfig false when running this command.\n"