diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/cli/TerminalTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/cli/TerminalTests.java
index 812e2375bf172..d9542111afdca 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/cli/TerminalTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/cli/TerminalTests.java
@@ -10,12 +10,14 @@
 package org.elasticsearch.cli;
 
 import org.elasticsearch.test.ESTestCase;
+import org.elasticsearch.test.ESTestCase.WithoutEntitlements;
 
 import java.io.StringReader;
 
 import static org.elasticsearch.cli.Terminal.readLineToCharArray;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.equalTo;
 
+@WithoutEntitlements // test & cli only - never running with entitlements enabled
 public class TerminalTests extends ESTestCase {
 
     public void testVerbosity() throws Exception {
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/coordination/ElasticsearchNodeCommandTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/coordination/ElasticsearchNodeCommandTests.java
index 5b8c349c2ce39..1b8e0311a09bc 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/coordination/ElasticsearchNodeCommandTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/coordination/ElasticsearchNodeCommandTests.java
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.index.Index;
 import org.elasticsearch.indices.IndicesModule;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.ESTestCase;
+import org.elasticsearch.test.ESTestCase.WithoutEntitlements;
 import org.elasticsearch.xcontent.NamedXContentRegistry;
 import org.elasticsearch.xcontent.XContentBuilder;
 import org.elasticsearch.xcontent.XContentParser;
@@ -36,6 +37,7 @@
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.instanceOf;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.not;
 
+@WithoutEntitlements // commands don't run with entitlements enforced
 public class ElasticsearchNodeCommandTests extends ESTestCase {
 
     public void testLoadStateWithoutMissingCustoms() throws IOException {
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/env/NodeRepurposeCommandTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/env/NodeRepurposeCommandTests.java
index 0cfa9716c5fe7..b6692027e0230 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/env/NodeRepurposeCommandTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/env/NodeRepurposeCommandTests.java
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.index.Index;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.IndexVersion;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.ESTestCase;
+import org.elasticsearch.test.ESTestCase.WithoutEntitlements;
 import org.hamcrest.Matcher;
 import org.junit.Before;
 
@@ -48,6 +49,7 @@
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.containsString;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.not;
 
+@WithoutEntitlements // commands don't run with entitlements enforced
 public class NodeRepurposeCommandTests extends ESTestCase {
 
     private static final Index INDEX = new Index("testIndex", "testUUID");
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/env/OverrideNodeVersionCommandTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/env/OverrideNodeVersionCommandTests.java
index 2bdda973eea45..fb9b07567b61b 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/env/OverrideNodeVersionCommandTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/env/OverrideNodeVersionCommandTests.java
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.containsString;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.equalTo;
 
-@WithoutEntitlements
+@WithoutEntitlements // commands don't run with entitlements enforced
 public class OverrideNodeVersionCommandTests extends ESTestCase {
 
     private Environment environment;
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/RemoveCorruptedShardDataCommandTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/RemoveCorruptedShardDataCommandTests.java
index e5c626a658565..edc9b63aa776e 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/RemoveCorruptedShardDataCommandTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/RemoveCorruptedShardDataCommandTests.java
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.index.translog.TranslogCorruptedException;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.CorruptionUtils;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.DummyShardLock;
+import org.elasticsearch.test.ESTestCase.WithoutEntitlements;
 import org.junit.Before;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
@@ -76,6 +77,7 @@
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.is;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.startsWith;
 
+@WithoutEntitlements // commands don't run with entitlements enforced
 public class RemoveCorruptedShardDataCommandTests extends IndexShardTestCase {
 
     private ShardId shardId;