diff --git a/src/go/rpk/go.mod b/src/go/rpk/go.mod
index 2f052eeca93a6..92cd1c5deb82c 100644
--- a/src/go/rpk/go.mod
+++ b/src/go/rpk/go.mod
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/prometheus/client_model v0.6.2
 	github.com/prometheus/common v0.65.0
 	github.com/redpanda-data/common-go/proto v0.0.0-20250820120127-9b518fca5ecf
-	github.com/redpanda-data/common-go/rpadmin v0.2.0
+	github.com/redpanda-data/common-go/rpadmin v0.2.1
 	github.com/redpanda-data/common-go/rpsr v0.1.2
 	github.com/redpanda-data/protoc-gen-go-mcp v0.0.0-20250812151819-7e5d5fef8241
 	github.com/rs/xid v1.6.0
diff --git a/src/go/rpk/go.sum b/src/go/rpk/go.sum
index 86d1262f9e797..8dd294ebcba56 100644
--- a/src/go/rpk/go.sum
+++ b/src/go/rpk/go.sum
@@ -253,8 +253,8 @@ github.com/redpanda-data/common-go/net v0.1.0 h1:JnJioRJuL961r1QXiJQ1tW9+yEaJfu8
 github.com/redpanda-data/common-go/net v0.1.0/go.mod h1:iOdNkjxM7a1T8F3cYHTaKIPFCHzzp/ia6TN+Z+7Tt5w=
 github.com/redpanda-data/common-go/proto v0.0.0-20250820120127-9b518fca5ecf h1:Oe0Sc3+/37Xgdpze7klkWyvB6eAt/nuUhrn93Rd4ESA=
 github.com/redpanda-data/common-go/proto v0.0.0-20250820120127-9b518fca5ecf/go.mod h1:GMoRcdMz6CIpr+8vKrSJvr8fJDlojETRV45BD6A0DvU=
-github.com/redpanda-data/common-go/rpadmin v0.2.0 h1:s2MyyY+yq7B17mLjjW17RO81wFlzo856K9IuBpsmvv0=
-github.com/redpanda-data/common-go/rpadmin v0.2.0/go.mod h1:qmu76v7RRKgEXLS3UXxZ8KDpObtSNq6RinOIejJNWzw=
+github.com/redpanda-data/common-go/rpadmin v0.2.1 h1:N3GUI3d1h661Nta6Jc4MyaVKWxRIg28yO4MG912gCXQ=
+github.com/redpanda-data/common-go/rpadmin v0.2.1/go.mod h1:qmu76v7RRKgEXLS3UXxZ8KDpObtSNq6RinOIejJNWzw=
 github.com/redpanda-data/common-go/rpsr v0.1.2 h1:DThUeyfBH8fkL9WoP1sEbRhT2NVV22zmsTpcCtzfusQ=
 github.com/redpanda-data/common-go/rpsr v0.1.2/go.mod h1:2j2416onosg5FKaKz52NooRE+q/9EJqQn0kyTcTXWHc=
 github.com/redpanda-data/go-avro/v2 v2.0.0-20240405204525-77b1144dc525 h1:vskZrV6q8W8flL0Ud23AJUYAd8ZgTadO45+loFnG2G0=
diff --git a/src/go/rpk/pkg/cli/cluster/storage/recovery/start.go b/src/go/rpk/pkg/cli/cluster/storage/recovery/start.go
index 88c6be9a22baa..d6b42417bf3f7 100644
--- a/src/go/rpk/pkg/cli/cluster/storage/recovery/start.go
+++ b/src/go/rpk/pkg/cli/cluster/storage/recovery/start.go
@@ -26,16 +26,22 @@ func newStartCommand(fs afero.Fs, p *config.Params) *cobra.Command {
 	var (
 		wait            bool
 		pollingInterval time.Duration
+		uuidOverride    string
 	)
 
 	cmd := &cobra.Command{
 		Use:   "start",
-		Short: "Start the topic restoration process",
-		Long: `Start the topic restoration process.
+		Short: "Start the cluster restoration process",
+		Long: `Start the cluster restoration process.
 		
-This command starts the process of restoring topics from the archival bucket.
+This command starts the process of restoring data from a failed cluster with
+Tiered Storage enabled, including its metadata, onto a new cluster.
 If the wait flag (--wait/-w) is set, the command will poll the status of the
-recovery process until it's finished.`,
+recovery process until it's finished.
+
+Use --cluster-uuid-override if you want to specify an explicit cluster UUID
+to restore from. For more information, visit https://docs.redpanda.com/current/manage/disaster-recovery/whole-cluster-restore/.
+`,
 		Args: cobra.NoArgs,
 		Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, _ []string) {
 			p, err := p.LoadVirtualProfile(fs)
@@ -47,7 +53,7 @@ recovery process until it's finished.`,
 
 			ctx := cmd.Context()
 
-			_, err = client.StartAutomatedRecovery(ctx)
+			_, err = client.StartAutomatedRecovery(ctx, uuidOverride)
 			var he *rpadmin.HTTPResponseError
 			if errors.As(err, &he) {
 				if he.Response.StatusCode == 404 {
@@ -113,6 +119,7 @@ recovery process until it's finished.`,
 	cmd.Flags().MarkDeprecated("topic-name-pattern", "Not supported")
 	cmd.Flags().BoolVarP(&wait, "wait", "w", false, "Wait until auto-restore is complete")
 	cmd.Flags().DurationVar(&pollingInterval, "polling-interval", 5*time.Second, "The status check interval (e.g. '30s', '1.5m'); ignored if --wait is not used")
+	cmd.Flags().StringVar(&uuidOverride, "cluster-uuid-override", "", "Explicit cluster UUID to restore from; uses the latest if unset")
 
 	return cmd
 }