diff --git a/sdk/dotnet/Pulumi/Deployment/Deployment.Logger.cs b/sdk/dotnet/Pulumi/Deployment/Deployment.Logger.cs
index 1acc61f9a..ce0334ed8 100644
--- a/sdk/dotnet/Pulumi/Deployment/Deployment.Logger.cs
+++ b/sdk/dotnet/Pulumi/Deployment/Deployment.Logger.cs
@@ -66,8 +66,8 @@ namespace Pulumi
             }
 
             /// <summary>
-            /// Error logs a fatal error to indicate that the tool should stop processing resource
-            /// operations immediately.
+            /// Logs a fatal condition. Consider raising an exception
+            /// after calling this method to stop the Pulumi program.
             /// </summary>
             Task ILogger.ErrorAsync(string message, Resource? resource, int? streamId, bool? ephemeral)
                 => ErrorAsync(message, resource, streamId, ephemeral);
diff --git a/sdk/dotnet/Pulumi/Log.cs b/sdk/dotnet/Pulumi/Log.cs
index a26991cc0..ada9802d6 100644
--- a/sdk/dotnet/Pulumi/Log.cs
+++ b/sdk/dotnet/Pulumi/Log.cs
@@ -31,15 +31,15 @@ namespace Pulumi
             => Deployment.InternalInstance.Logger.WarnAsync(message, resource, streamId, ephemeral);
 
         /// <summary>
-        /// Logs a fatal error to indicate that the tool should stop processing resource
-        /// operations immediately.
+        /// Logs a fatal condition. Consider raising an exception
+        /// after calling Error to stop the Pulumi program.
         /// </summary>
         public static void Error(string message, Resource? resource = null, int? streamId = null, bool? ephemeral = null)
             => Deployment.InternalInstance.Logger.ErrorAsync(message, resource, streamId, ephemeral);
 
         /// <summary>
-        /// Logs a fatal exception to indicate that the tool should stop processing resource
-        /// operations immediately.
+        /// Logs an exception. Consider raising the exception after
+        /// calling this method to stop the Pulumi program.
         /// </summary>
         public static void Exception(Exception exception, Resource? resource = null, int? streamId = null, bool? ephemeral = null)
             => Error(exception.ToString(), resource, streamId, ephemeral);
diff --git a/sdk/go/pulumi/log.go b/sdk/go/pulumi/log.go
index 482cedf1e..92c771a13 100644
--- a/sdk/go/pulumi/log.go
+++ b/sdk/go/pulumi/log.go
@@ -69,7 +69,8 @@ func (log *logState) Warn(msg string, args *LogArgs) error {
 	return _log(log.ctx, log.engine, pulumirpc.LogSeverity_WARNING, msg, args)
 }
 
-// Logs a fatal error to indicate that the tool should stop processing resource
+// Logs a fatal condition. Consider returning a non-nil error object
+// after calling Error to stop the Pulumi program.
 func (log *logState) Error(msg string, args *LogArgs) error {
 	return _log(log.ctx, log.engine, pulumirpc.LogSeverity_ERROR, msg, args)
 }
diff --git a/sdk/nodejs/log/index.ts b/sdk/nodejs/log/index.ts
index 921f3bf30..91a640658 100644
--- a/sdk/nodejs/log/index.ts
+++ b/sdk/nodejs/log/index.ts
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ export function warn(msg: string, resource?: resourceTypes.Resource, streamId?:
 }
 
 /**
- * error logs a fatal error to indicate that the tool should stop processing resource operations immediately.
+ * error logs a fatal condition. Consider raising an exception after calling error to stop the Pulumi program.
  */
 export function error(msg: string, resource?: resourceTypes.Resource, streamId?: number, ephemeral?: boolean) {
     errcnt++; // remember the error so we can suppress leaks.
diff --git a/sdk/python/lib/pulumi/log.py b/sdk/python/lib/pulumi/log.py
index 8dd13f7bc..6833d528b 100644
--- a/sdk/python/lib/pulumi/log.py
+++ b/sdk/python/lib/pulumi/log.py
@@ -74,12 +74,15 @@ def warn(msg: str, resource: Optional['Resource'] = None, stream_id: Optional[in
 
 def error(msg: str, resource: Optional['Resource'] = None, stream_id: Optional[int] = None, ephemeral: Optional[bool] = None):
     """
-    Logs a message to the Pulumi CLI's error channel, associating it with a resource
-    and stream_id if provided.
+    Logs a message to the Pulumi CLI's error channel, associating it
+    with a resource and stream_id if provided.
+
+    Consider raising an exception after calling error to stop the Pulumi program.
 
     :param str msg: The message to send to the Pulumi CLI.
     :param Optional[Resource] resource: If provided, associate this message with the given resource in the Pulumi CLI.
     :param Optional[int] stream_id: If provided, associate this message with a stream of other messages.
+
     """
     engine = get_engine()
     if engine is not None: