diff --git a/doc/man/man1/sbatch.1 b/doc/man/man1/sbatch.1
index 87e6220b0fbf9d21a3d3b21baa31cb495a19dc27..5a80fd8c3e4d16b5efe17694906c566e6e7c8987 100644
--- a/doc/man/man1/sbatch.1
+++ b/doc/man/man1/sbatch.1
@@ -701,6 +701,7 @@ job initiation time. The default value is the current cluster. A value of
\(aq\fIall\fR' will query to run on all clusters. Note the
\fB\-\-export\fR option to control environment variables exported
between clusters.
+Note that the SlurmDBD must be up for this option to work properly.
.TP
\fB\-m\fR, \fB\-\-distribution\fR=
diff --git a/doc/man/man1/scancel.1 b/doc/man/man1/scancel.1
index 1419ab53ffee5786557b04ce14a7e1e62fd2adc1..0eec081b375d9410b77f5ba622e4ed247a12310f 100644
--- a/doc/man/man1/scancel.1
+++ b/doc/man/man1/scancel.1
@@ -61,7 +61,8 @@ Interactive mode. Confirm each job_id.step_id before performing the cancel opera
.TP
\fB\-M\fR, \fB\-\-clusters\fR=<\fIstring\fR>
-Cluster to issue commands to.
+Clusters to issue commands to.
+Note that the SlurmDBD must be up for this option to work properly.
.TP
\fB\-n\fR, \fB\-\-jobname\fR=\fIjob_name\fR, \fB\-\-name\fR=\fIjob_name\fR
diff --git a/doc/man/man1/scontrol.1 b/doc/man/man1/scontrol.1
index ff3a6f8670a5543cafd50ebe5209497c484b1f96..8e91a7e42a8c5f5d74fc7b342ebc2407d50e029a 100644
--- a/doc/man/man1/scontrol.1
+++ b/doc/man/man1/scontrol.1
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ unavailable to user's group will be displayed (i.e. this is the default behavior
.TP
\fB\-M\fR, \fB\-\-clusters\fR=<\fIstring\fR>
The cluster to issue commands to. Only one cluster name may be specified.
+Note that the SlurmDBD must be up for this option to work properly.
.TP
\fB\-o\fR, \fB\-\-oneliner\fR
diff --git a/doc/man/man1/sinfo.1 b/doc/man/man1/sinfo.1
index 8186484bac8b5f58620836410cee9527843912ac..37f3bccb0ebbad82c2965ed9e24b0e37b42727f5 100644
--- a/doc/man/man1/sinfo.1
+++ b/doc/man/man1/sinfo.1
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ This is ignored if the \fB\-\-format\fR option is specified.
\fB\-M\fR, \fB\-\-clusters\fR=<\fIstring\fR>
Clusters to issue commands to. Multiple cluster names may be comma separated.
A value of of '\fIall\fR' will query to run on all clusters.
+Note that the SlurmDBD must be up for this option to work properly.
.TP
\fB\-n <nodes>\fR, \fB\-\-nodes=<nodes>\fR
diff --git a/doc/man/man1/smap.1 b/doc/man/man1/smap.1
index 6a927b20e7e6ce0e40781128c4c8989b25f8f4b7..26570ebc31173ff75308547b0b5dc390f4f26734 100644
--- a/doc/man/man1/smap.1
+++ b/doc/man/man1/smap.1
@@ -79,6 +79,7 @@ name with the '\-n' option.
.TP
\fB\-M\fR, \fB\-\-clusters\fR=<\fIstring\fR>
Clusters to issue commands to.
+Note that the SlurmDBD must be up for this option to work properly.
.TP
\fB\-n\fR, \fB\-\-nodes\fR
diff --git a/doc/man/man1/sprio.1 b/doc/man/man1/sprio.1
index d25e42f7129b25131c5852956d84a0cc7d1438db..2101006aef6d06532151e00576d947fd46cfbf63 100644
--- a/doc/man/man1/sprio.1
+++ b/doc/man/man1/sprio.1
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ Report more of the available information for the selected jobs.
.TP
\fB\-M\fR, \fB\-\-clusters\fR=<\fIstring\fR>
The cluster to issue commands to. Only one cluster name may be specified.
+Note that the SlurmDBD must be up for this option to work properly.
.TP
\fB\-n\fR, \fB\-\-norm\fR
diff --git a/doc/man/man1/sshare.1 b/doc/man/man1/sshare.1
index dcd35297db7bc1ae6cac4518ba1f87d2f4ae43cb..39ca0ce5aa1a8717a24e75b5377335ba4903cf1f 100644
--- a/doc/man/man1/sshare.1
+++ b/doc/man/man1/sshare.1
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ Long listing - includes the normalized usage information.
.TP
\fB\-M\fR, \fB\-\-clusters\fR=<\fIstring\fR>
Clusters to issue commands to.
+Note that the SlurmDBD must be up for this option to work properly.
.TP
\fB\-m\fR, \fB\-\-partition\fR
diff --git a/doc/man/man1/strigger.1 b/doc/man/man1/strigger.1
index 9686621ff6c106c324a4032144cf7b872a4e01fc..3520baa3b3e28da81ab5bf9fbbddf12973c8e0af 100644
--- a/doc/man/man1/strigger.1
+++ b/doc/man/man1/strigger.1
@@ -167,6 +167,7 @@ trigger event.
.TP
\fB\-M\fR, \fB\-\-clusters\fR=<\fIstring\fR>
Clusters to issue commands to.
+Note that the SlurmDBD must be up for this option to work properly.
.TP
\fB\-n\fR, \fB\-\-node\fR[=\fIhost\fR]
diff --git a/src/sbatch/opt.c b/src/sbatch/opt.c
index 0100638051659fb6cc77bdb33b19286832afb455..dabcfaf84aa3829a30fbdc291dcdd93081a1a16f 100644
--- a/src/sbatch/opt.c
+++ b/src/sbatch/opt.c
@@ -3378,6 +3378,7 @@ static void _help(void)
" -M, --clusters=names Comma separated list of clusters to issue\n"
" commands to. Default is current cluster.\n"
" Name of 'all' will submit to run on all clusters.\n"
+" NOTE: SlurmDBD must up.\n"
" -m, --distribution=type distribution method for processes to nodes\n"
" (type = block|cyclic|arbitrary)\n"
" --mail-type=type notify on state change: BEGIN, END, FAIL or ALL\n"
diff --git a/src/scancel/opt.c b/src/scancel/opt.c
index bbe4f783c361261186975f8aa189b24404e568be..18011629d8d4a7729eb3594c42b256956b9875d8 100644
--- a/src/scancel/opt.c
+++ b/src/scancel/opt.c
@@ -701,6 +701,8 @@ static void _help(void)
/* printf(" --ctld send request directly to slurmctld\n"); */
printf(" -f, --full signal batch shell and all steps for specified job\n");
printf(" -i, --interactive require response from user for each job\n");
+ printf(" -M, --clusters clusters to issue commands to.\n");
+ printf(" NOTE: SlurmDBD must be up.\n");
printf(" -n, --name=job_name act only on jobs with this name\n");
printf(" -p, --partition=partition act only on jobs in this partition\n");
printf(" -Q, --quiet disable warnings\n");
diff --git a/src/scontrol/scontrol.c b/src/scontrol/scontrol.c
index f9da84f77d35309e43f41f752e7756c2fb159238..f7a3ab94fc3ebc53ec7fedbae2261bcf0845b146 100644
--- a/src/scontrol/scontrol.c
+++ b/src/scontrol/scontrol.c
@@ -1917,6 +1917,7 @@ scontrol [<OPTION>] [<COMMAND>] \n\
-h or --help: equivalent to \"help\" command \n\
--hide: equivalent to \"hide\" command \n\
-M or --cluster: equivalent to \"cluster\" command \n\
+ NOTE: SlurmDBD must be up. \n\
-o or --oneliner: equivalent to \"oneliner\" command \n\
-Q or --quiet: equivalent to \"quiet\" command \n\
-v or --verbose: equivalent to \"verbose\" command \n\
@@ -1934,6 +1935,7 @@ scontrol [<OPTION>] [<COMMAND>] \n\
cluster cluster to issue commands to. Default is \n\
current cluster. cluster with no name will \n\
reset to default. \n\
+ NOTE: SlurmDBD must be up. \n\
checkpoint <CH_OP><ID> perform a checkpoint operation on identified \n\
job or job step \n\
completing display jobs in completing state along with \n\
diff --git a/src/sinfo/opts.c b/src/sinfo/opts.c
index c3766d5307c4e0124889e57aac7f5eda14385d38..4b5181b6b6c579eae5214aab84c44fe8a464f268 100644
--- a/src/sinfo/opts.c
+++ b/src/sinfo/opts.c
@@ -1311,6 +1311,8 @@ Usage: sinfo [OPTIONS]\n\
--hide do not show hidden or non-accessible partitions\n\
-i, --iterate=seconds specify an iteration period\n\
-l, --long long output - displays more information\n\
+ -M, --clusters=names clusters to issue commands to.\n\
+ NOTE: SlurmDBD must be up.\n\
-n, --nodes=NODES report on specific node(s)\n\
--noconvert don't convert units from their original type\n\
(e.g. 2048M won't be converted to 2G).\n\
diff --git a/src/smap/opts.c b/src/smap/opts.c
index b3ea19fed1d0a6b2902b41c9cbedd3a98065f79f..337005224d74d28d4f992ddebe83972406741147 100644
--- a/src/smap/opts.c
+++ b/src/smap/opts.c
@@ -335,6 +335,7 @@ Usage: smap [OPTIONS]\n\
-M, --cluster=cluster_name cluster to issue commands to. Default is\n\
current cluster. cluster with no name will\n\
reset to default.\n\
+ NOTE: SlurmDBD must be up.\n\
-n, --nodes=[nodes] only show objects with these nodes.\n\
If querying to the ionode level use the -I\n\
option in conjunction with this option.\n\
diff --git a/src/sprio/opts.c b/src/sprio/opts.c
index aef26c8ee30683ecc9ff162bc6bb54e02f44a10f..8811e3b7607b34a7ae35a45e559d2ff7c2ddd23e 100644
--- a/src/sprio/opts.c
+++ b/src/sprio/opts.c
@@ -489,6 +489,7 @@ Usage: sprio [OPTIONS]\n\
-M, --cluster=cluster_name cluster to issue commands to. Default is\n\
current cluster. cluster with no name will\n\
reset to default.\n\
+ NOTE: SlurmDBD must be up.\n\
-n, --norm display normalized values\n\
-o, --format=format format specification\n\
-u, --user=user_name comma separated list of users to view\n\
diff --git a/src/sshare/sshare.c b/src/sshare/sshare.c
index 6a8dc3c7bc63441ce7156457440c7367478a9cde..24926ce167b8f1734f93d037f57f2b3e81b8425a 100644
--- a/src/sshare/sshare.c
+++ b/src/sshare/sshare.c
@@ -456,9 +456,8 @@ Usage: sshare [OPTION] \n\
with the '--format' option \n\
-l or --long include normalized usage in output \n\
-m or --partition print the partition part of the association \n\
- -M or --cluster=name cluster to issue commands to. Default is \n\
- current cluster. cluster with no name will \n\
- reset to default. \n\
+ -M or --cluster=names clusters to issue commands to. \n\
+ NOTE: SlurmDBD must be up. \n\
-n or --noheader omit header from output \n\
-o or --format= Comma separated list of fields. (use \n\
(\"--helpformat\" for a list of available fields).\n\
diff --git a/src/strigger/opts.c b/src/strigger/opts.c
index 81236614cfdafcf247f93a553de8536120b15b28..979258b4c69476a152b9424546affc0dedea4204 100644
--- a/src/strigger/opts.c
+++ b/src/strigger/opts.c
@@ -536,6 +536,7 @@ Usage: strigger [--set | --get | --clear] [OPTIONS]\n\
-M, --cluster=name cluster to issue commands to. Default is\n\
current cluster. cluster with no name will\n\
reset to default.\n\
+ NOTE: SlurmDBD must up.\n\
-n, --node[=host] trigger related to specific node, all nodes by default\n\
-N, --noheader Do not print the message header\n\
-o, --offset=# trigger's offset time from event, negative to precede\n\