diff --git a/pkg/base/test_server_args.go b/pkg/base/test_server_args.go
index 2f528b278d66..10c86dfd1d0a 100644
--- a/pkg/base/test_server_args.go
+++ b/pkg/base/test_server_args.go
@@ -340,7 +340,7 @@ type TestTenantArgs struct {
 	// Cockroach Labs. Should remain disabled during unit testing.
 	StartDiagnosticsReporting bool
 
-	// InProcessTenant is used to initialize tenants through the
-	// kv server's `serverController` in the same process.
-	InProcessTenant bool
+	// UseServerController tells testserver.StartTenant() to use
+	// its serverController to start the secondary tenant.
+	UseServerController bool
 }
diff --git a/pkg/cli/cliflags/flags.go b/pkg/cli/cliflags/flags.go
index 8cf2c75bc75d..a84bac95810f 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/cliflags/flags.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/cliflags/flags.go
@@ -1343,16 +1343,14 @@ More information about the geo-partitioned replicas topology can be found at:
 		Description: `
 If set, cockroach demo will start separate in-memory KV and SQL servers in multi-tenancy mode.
 The SQL shell will be connected to the first tenant, and can be switched between tenants
-and the system tenant using the \connect command. By default the tenant will be initialized
-in-process. Use --simulate-separate-tenant-process to emulate a separate tenant process.
-`,
+and the system tenant using the \connect command.`,
 	}
 
-	DemoInProcessTenant = FlagInfo{
-		Name: "in-process-tenant",
+	DemoDisableServerController = FlagInfo{
+		Name: "disable-server-controller",
 		Description: `
-If set, and --multitenant is set to true, the tenant process will be started
-in-process.`,
+If set, the server controller will not be used to start secondary
+tenant servers.`,
 	}
 
 	DemoNoLicense = FlagInfo{
diff --git a/pkg/cli/context.go b/pkg/cli/context.go
index d2747f30d2ef..b97de80a087d 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/context.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/context.go
@@ -618,7 +618,7 @@ func setDemoContextDefaults() {
 	demoCtx.HTTPPort, _ = strconv.Atoi(base.DefaultHTTPPort)
 	demoCtx.WorkloadMaxQPS = 25
 	demoCtx.Multitenant = true
-	demoCtx.InProcessTenant = true
+	demoCtx.DisableServerController = false
 	demoCtx.DefaultEnableRangefeeds = true
 
 	demoCtx.pidFile = ""
diff --git a/pkg/cli/democluster/context.go b/pkg/cli/democluster/context.go
index 1371edc728a1..9fe8a420709f 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/democluster/context.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/democluster/context.go
@@ -107,8 +107,9 @@ type Context struct {
 	// out enabled.
 	DefaultEnableRangefeeds bool
 
-	// InProcessTenant is true if we want to emulate an in-process tenant.
-	InProcessTenant bool
+	// DisableServerController is true if we want to avoid the server
+	// controller to instantiate tenant secondary servers.
+	DisableServerController bool
 }
 
 // IsInteractive returns true if the demo cluster configuration
diff --git a/pkg/cli/democluster/demo_cluster.go b/pkg/cli/democluster/demo_cluster.go
index 35c3c1ae1307..72cda2058562 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/democluster/demo_cluster.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/democluster/demo_cluster.go
@@ -218,7 +218,7 @@ func NewDemoCluster(
 		// tenant.
 		// Note: this logic can be removed once we use a single
 		// listener for HTTP and SQL.
-		if !c.demoCtx.InProcessTenant {
+		if c.demoCtx.DisableServerController {
 			c.httpFirstPort += c.demoCtx.NumNodes
 		}
 		c.sqlFirstPort += c.demoCtx.NumNodes
@@ -430,7 +430,7 @@ func (c *transientCluster) Start(ctx context.Context) (err error) {
 					DisableCreateTenant: !createTenant,
 					TenantName:          roachpb.TenantName("demo-tenant"),
 					TenantID:            roachpb.MustMakeTenantID(secondaryTenantID),
-					InProcessTenant:     c.demoCtx.InProcessTenant,
+					UseServerController: !c.demoCtx.DisableServerController,
 					TestingKnobs: base.TestingKnobs{
 						Server: &server.TestingKnobs{
 							ContextTestingKnobs: rpc.ContextTestingKnobs{
@@ -442,7 +442,7 @@ func (c *transientCluster) Start(ctx context.Context) (err error) {
 				}
 
 				var tenantStopper *stop.Stopper
-				if !c.demoCtx.InProcessTenant {
+				if c.demoCtx.DisableServerController {
 					tenantStopper = stop.NewStopper()
 					args.Stopper = tenantStopper
 					args.ForceInsecure = c.demoCtx.Insecure
@@ -455,9 +455,9 @@ func (c *transientCluster) Start(ctx context.Context) (err error) {
 				}
 
 				ts, err := c.servers[i].StartTenant(ctx, args)
-				if !c.demoCtx.InProcessTenant {
-					// InProcessTenant means that the server controller is
-					// already taking care of shutdown.
+				if c.demoCtx.DisableServerController {
+					// If we use the server controller, it is already taking
+					// care of shutdown.
 					c.stopper.AddCloser(stop.CloserFn(func() {
 						stopCtx := context.Background()
 						if ts != nil {
@@ -858,7 +858,7 @@ func (demoCtx *Context) testServerArgsForTransientCluster(
 		args.SQLAddr = fmt.Sprintf("127.0.0.1:%d", sqlPort)
 		args.HTTPAddr = fmt.Sprintf("127.0.0.1:%d", httpPort)
 
-		if demoCtx.InProcessTenant {
+		if !demoCtx.DisableServerController {
 			// The code in NewDemoCluster put the KV ports higher
 			// so we need to subtract the number of nodes to get
 			// back to the "good" ports.
@@ -1820,7 +1820,7 @@ func (c *transientCluster) ListDemoNodes(w, ew io.Writer, justOne, verbose bool)
 			// Connection parameters for the system tenant follow.
 
 			uiURL := s.Cfg.AdminURL()
-			if q := uiURL.Query(); c.demoCtx.Multitenant && c.demoCtx.InProcessTenant && !q.Has(server.TenantNameParamInQueryURL) {
+			if q := uiURL.Query(); c.demoCtx.Multitenant && !c.demoCtx.DisableServerController && !q.Has(server.TenantNameParamInQueryURL) {
 				q.Add(server.TenantNameParamInQueryURL, catconstants.SystemTenantName)
 				uiURL.RawQuery = q.Encode()
 			}
diff --git a/pkg/cli/flags.go b/pkg/cli/flags.go
index 3b6db50d6572..88c38f34fa59 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/flags.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/flags.go
@@ -795,11 +795,11 @@ func init() {
 		cliflagcfg.BoolFlag(f, &demoCtx.DefaultEnableRangefeeds, cliflags.DemoEnableRangefeeds)
 
 		cliflagcfg.BoolFlag(f, &demoCtx.Multitenant, cliflags.DemoMultitenant)
-		cliflagcfg.BoolFlag(f, &demoCtx.InProcessTenant, cliflags.DemoInProcessTenant)
+		cliflagcfg.BoolFlag(f, &demoCtx.DisableServerController, cliflags.DemoDisableServerController)
 		// TODO(knz): Currently the multitenant UX for 'demo' is not
 		// satisfying for end-users. Let's not advertise it too much.
 		_ = f.MarkHidden(cliflags.DemoMultitenant.Name)
-		_ = f.MarkHidden(cliflags.DemoInProcessTenant.Name)
+		_ = f.MarkHidden(cliflags.DemoDisableServerController.Name)
 
 		cliflagcfg.BoolFlag(f, &demoCtx.SimulateLatency, cliflags.Global)
 		// We also support overriding the GEOS library path for 'demo'.
diff --git a/pkg/server/testserver.go b/pkg/server/testserver.go
index d98db7c66cab..52c525ffb1c8 100644
--- a/pkg/server/testserver.go
+++ b/pkg/server/testserver.go
@@ -831,7 +831,7 @@ func (ts *TestServer) StartTenant(
 		}
 	}
 
-	if params.InProcessTenant {
+	if params.UseServerController {
 		onDemandServer, err := ts.serverController.getOrCreateServer(ctx, params.TenantName)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err