diff --git a/changelog/unreleased/SOLR-18367-waitforfinalstate-removal.yml b/changelog/unreleased/SOLR-18367-waitforfinalstate-removal.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..7af87ffbd3e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/unreleased/SOLR-18367-waitforfinalstate-removal.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+title: The `waitForFinalState` parameter now defaults to `true` for CREATE, ADDREPLICA, CREATESHARD, MOVEREPLICA, SPLITSHARD, BALANCE_REPLICAS, MIGRATE_REPLICAS, and REPLACENODE Collections API commands, so these commands wait for all affected replicas to become active before returning. Removed the now-unnecessary `CollectionAdminRequest.AsyncCollectionAdminRequest.setWaitForFinalState` SolrJ method, deprecated in 9.10 (SOLR-17712).
+type: changed
+authors:
+  - name: Serhiy Bzhezytskyy
+links:
+  - name: SOLR-18367
+    url: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/SOLR-18367
diff --git a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cloud/api/collections/AddReplicaCmd.java b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cloud/api/collections/AddReplicaCmd.java
index 162dc555a8a..81772ac698f 100644
--- a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cloud/api/collections/AddReplicaCmd.java
+++ b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cloud/api/collections/AddReplicaCmd.java
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ List<ZkNodeProps> addReplica(
           "Collection: " + collectionName + " shard: " + shard + " does not exist");
     }
 
-    boolean waitForFinalState = message.getBool(WAIT_FOR_FINAL_STATE, false);
+    boolean waitForFinalState = message.getBool(WAIT_FOR_FINAL_STATE, true);
     boolean skipCreateReplicaInClusterState =
         message.getBool(SKIP_CREATE_REPLICA_IN_CLUSTER_STATE, false);
 
diff --git a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cloud/api/collections/BalanceReplicasCmd.java b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cloud/api/collections/BalanceReplicasCmd.java
index 743d9f5847f..75ffe62b67d 100644
--- a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cloud/api/collections/BalanceReplicasCmd.java
+++ b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cloud/api/collections/BalanceReplicasCmd.java
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ public void call(AdminCmdContext adminCmdContext, ZkNodeProps message, NamedList
           "'nodes' was not passed as a correct type (Set/List/String): "
               + nodesRaw.getClass().getName());
     }
-    boolean waitForFinalState = message.getBool(CommonAdminParams.WAIT_FOR_FINAL_STATE, false);
+    boolean waitForFinalState = message.getBool(CommonAdminParams.WAIT_FOR_FINAL_STATE, true);
     int timeout = message.getInt("timeout", 10 * 60); // 10 minutes
     boolean parallel = message.getBool("parallel", false);
 
diff --git a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cloud/api/collections/CreateCollectionCmd.java b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cloud/api/collections/CreateCollectionCmd.java
index 14291d7b941..fa7633cc173 100644
--- a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cloud/api/collections/CreateCollectionCmd.java
+++ b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cloud/api/collections/CreateCollectionCmd.java
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ public void call(AdminCmdContext adminCmdContext, ZkNodeProps message, NamedList
     ClusterState clusterState = adminCmdContext.getClusterState();
     final Aliases aliases = ccc.getZkStateReader().getAliases();
     final String collectionName = message.getStr(NAME);
-    final boolean waitForFinalState = message.getBool(WAIT_FOR_FINAL_STATE, false);
+    final boolean waitForFinalState = message.getBool(WAIT_FOR_FINAL_STATE, true);
     final String alias = message.getStr(ALIAS, collectionName);
     log.info("Create collection {}", collectionName);
     boolean prsDefault = EnvUtils.getPropertyAsBool(PRS_DEFAULT_PROP, false);
diff --git a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cloud/api/collections/CreateShardCmd.java b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cloud/api/collections/CreateShardCmd.java
index 7c0e1633603..7176a830b08 100644
--- a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cloud/api/collections/CreateShardCmd.java
+++ b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cloud/api/collections/CreateShardCmd.java
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ public void call(AdminCmdContext adminCmdContext, ZkNodeProps message, NamedList
       throws Exception {
     String extCollectionName = message.getStr(COLLECTION_PROP);
     String sliceName = message.getStr(SHARD_ID_PROP);
-    boolean waitForFinalState = message.getBool(CommonAdminParams.WAIT_FOR_FINAL_STATE, false);
+    boolean waitForFinalState = message.getBool(CommonAdminParams.WAIT_FOR_FINAL_STATE, true);
 
     log.info("Create shard invoked: {}", message);
     if (extCollectionName == null || sliceName == null)
diff --git a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cloud/api/collections/MigrateReplicasCmd.java b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cloud/api/collections/MigrateReplicasCmd.java
index 779ab999197..fa3b4a2f112 100644
--- a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cloud/api/collections/MigrateReplicasCmd.java
+++ b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cloud/api/collections/MigrateReplicasCmd.java
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ public void call(AdminCmdContext adminCmdContext, ZkNodeProps message, NamedList
     ZkStateReader zkStateReader = ccc.getZkStateReader();
     Set<String> sourceNodes = getNodesFromParam(message, CollectionParams.SOURCE_NODES);
     Set<String> targetNodes = getNodesFromParam(message, CollectionParams.TARGET_NODES);
-    boolean waitForFinalState = message.getBool(CommonAdminParams.WAIT_FOR_FINAL_STATE, false);
+    boolean waitForFinalState = message.getBool(CommonAdminParams.WAIT_FOR_FINAL_STATE, true);
     if (sourceNodes.isEmpty()) {
       throw new SolrException(
           SolrException.ErrorCode.BAD_REQUEST, "sourceNodes is a required param");
diff --git a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cloud/api/collections/MoveReplicaCmd.java b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cloud/api/collections/MoveReplicaCmd.java
index 634b2374633..2f1ce62920f 100644
--- a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cloud/api/collections/MoveReplicaCmd.java
+++ b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cloud/api/collections/MoveReplicaCmd.java
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ private void moveReplica(
     CollectionHandlingUtils.checkRequired(message, COLLECTION_PROP, CollectionParams.TARGET_NODE);
     String extCollection = message.getStr(COLLECTION_PROP);
     String targetNode = message.getStr(CollectionParams.TARGET_NODE);
-    boolean waitForFinalState = message.getBool(WAIT_FOR_FINAL_STATE, false);
+    boolean waitForFinalState = message.getBool(WAIT_FOR_FINAL_STATE, true);
     boolean inPlaceMove = message.getBool(IN_PLACE_MOVE, true);
     int timeout = message.getInt(TIMEOUT, 10 * 60); // 10 minutes
 
diff --git a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cloud/api/collections/ReplaceNodeCmd.java b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cloud/api/collections/ReplaceNodeCmd.java
index 26a3730ca10..2eb72983fad 100644
--- a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cloud/api/collections/ReplaceNodeCmd.java
+++ b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cloud/api/collections/ReplaceNodeCmd.java
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ public void call(AdminCmdContext adminCmdContext, ZkNodeProps message, NamedList
     ZkStateReader zkStateReader = ccc.getZkStateReader();
     String source = message.getStr(CollectionParams.SOURCE_NODE);
     String target = message.getStr(CollectionParams.TARGET_NODE);
-    boolean waitForFinalState = message.getBool(CommonAdminParams.WAIT_FOR_FINAL_STATE, false);
+    boolean waitForFinalState = message.getBool(CommonAdminParams.WAIT_FOR_FINAL_STATE, true);
     if (source == null) {
       throw new SolrException(
           SolrException.ErrorCode.BAD_REQUEST, "sourceNode is a required param");
diff --git a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cloud/api/collections/SplitShardCmd.java b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cloud/api/collections/SplitShardCmd.java
index 6740c5ba046..4ddc265338a 100644
--- a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cloud/api/collections/SplitShardCmd.java
+++ b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cloud/api/collections/SplitShardCmd.java
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ public void call(AdminCmdContext adminCmdContext, ZkNodeProps message, NamedList
   public boolean split(
       AdminCmdContext adminCmdContext, ZkNodeProps message, NamedList<Object> results)
       throws Exception {
-    boolean waitForFinalState = message.getBool(CommonAdminParams.WAIT_FOR_FINAL_STATE, false);
+    boolean waitForFinalState = message.getBool(CommonAdminParams.WAIT_FOR_FINAL_STATE, true);
     String methodStr =
         message.getStr(
             CommonAdminParams.SPLIT_METHOD, SolrIndexSplitter.SplitMethod.REWRITE.toLower());
diff --git a/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/cloud/AddReplicaTest.java b/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/cloud/AddReplicaTest.java
index 7590311a01f..23e473a7290 100644
--- a/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/cloud/AddReplicaTest.java
+++ b/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/cloud/AddReplicaTest.java
@@ -155,8 +155,6 @@ public void test() throws Exception {
     replicas2.removeAll(replicas);
     assertEquals(1, replicas2.size());
 
-    // use waitForFinalState
-    addReplica.setWaitForFinalState(true);
     addReplica.processAsync("001", cloudClient);
     requestStatus = CollectionAdminRequest.requestStatus("001");
     rsp = requestStatus.process(cloudClient);
@@ -205,7 +203,6 @@ public void testAddReplicaWithUserDefinedProperties() throws Exception {
         CollectionAdminRequest.addReplicaToShard(collectionName, "shard1");
     addReplica.withProperty("customProp2", "val2.1");
     addReplica.withProperty("customProp3", "val3");
-    addReplica.setWaitForFinalState(true);
     addReplica.process(cloudClient);
 
     // Verify that the new core was created with user-defined properties coming from the request
diff --git a/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/cloud/CollectionsAPISolrJTest.java b/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/cloud/CollectionsAPISolrJTest.java
index 17cb7e51ebb..58790dea5f6 100644
--- a/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/cloud/CollectionsAPISolrJTest.java
+++ b/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/cloud/CollectionsAPISolrJTest.java
@@ -232,7 +232,6 @@ public void testCreateAndDeleteCollection() throws Exception {
     String collectionName = getSaferTestName();
     CollectionAdminRequest.Create createREq =
         CollectionAdminRequest.createCollection(collectionName, "conf", 2, 2);
-    createREq.setWaitForFinalState(false);
     CollectionAdminResponse response = createREq.process(cluster.getSolrClient());
 
     assertEquals(0, response.getStatus());
diff --git a/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/cloud/ReplaceNodeTest.java b/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/cloud/ReplaceNodeTest.java
index bc64635d2d8..a7dd392c9b6 100644
--- a/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/cloud/ReplaceNodeTest.java
+++ b/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/cloud/ReplaceNodeTest.java
@@ -133,7 +133,6 @@ public void test() throws Exception {
     // let's do it back - this time wait for recoveries
     CollectionAdminRequest.AsyncCollectionAdminRequest replaceNodeRequest =
         createReplaceNodeRequest(emptyNode, nodeToBeDecommissioned, Boolean.TRUE);
-    replaceNodeRequest.setWaitForFinalState(true);
     replaceNodeRequest.processAndWait("001", cloudClient, 10);
 
     try (SolrClient coreClient =
diff --git a/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/cloud/SplitShardTest.java b/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/cloud/SplitShardTest.java
index 0b539bd39d0..7729183cb26 100644
--- a/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/cloud/SplitShardTest.java
+++ b/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/cloud/SplitShardTest.java
@@ -192,7 +192,6 @@ public void testWithChildDocuments() throws Exception {
         CollectionAdminRequest.splitShard(COLLECTION_NAME)
             .setNumSubShards(2)
             .setShardName("shard1");
-    splitShard.setWaitForFinalState(true);
     splitShard.process(solrClient);
     waitForState(
         "Waiting for 2 active shards after split", COLLECTION_NAME, activeClusterShape(2, 2));
diff --git a/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/core/TestSetPropertyConfigApis.java b/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/core/TestSetPropertyConfigApis.java
index 54c30f7d75f..8bf024cbecd 100644
--- a/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/core/TestSetPropertyConfigApis.java
+++ b/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/core/TestSetPropertyConfigApis.java
@@ -279,7 +279,6 @@ public void testTwoCollectionsWithDifferentProps() throws Exception {
 
   private static void processAndAssertSuccess(final CollectionAdminRequest.Create op)
       throws Exception {
-    op.setWaitForFinalState(true);
     assertTrue(op.process(cluster.getSolrClient()).isSuccess());
   }
 
diff --git a/solr/solrj/src/java/org/apache/solr/client/solrj/request/CollectionAdminRequest.java b/solr/solrj/src/java/org/apache/solr/client/solrj/request/CollectionAdminRequest.java
index 7147699a592..d7501e549cc 100644
--- a/solr/solrj/src/java/org/apache/solr/client/solrj/request/CollectionAdminRequest.java
+++ b/solr/solrj/src/java/org/apache/solr/client/solrj/request/CollectionAdminRequest.java
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ public abstract static class AsyncCollectionAdminRequest
       extends CollectionAdminRequest<CollectionAdminResponse> {
 
     protected String asyncId = null;
-    protected boolean waitForFinalState = false;
+    protected boolean waitForFinalState = true;
 
     public AsyncCollectionAdminRequest(CollectionAction action) {
       super(action);
@@ -165,11 +165,6 @@ public String getAsyncId() {
       return asyncId;
     }
 
-    @Deprecated(since = "9.10")
-    public void setWaitForFinalState(boolean waitForFinalState) {
-      this.waitForFinalState = waitForFinalState;
-    }
-
     public void setAsyncId(String asyncId) {
       this.asyncId = asyncId;
     }