diff --git a/newsfragments/4110.incompat b/newsfragments/4110.incompat
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e22d8dfc7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/newsfragments/4110.incompat
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+Properly interpret "tahoe create --storage-dir" as an option.
+
+Versions 1.19.0 and older interpreted "--storage-dir" as a "flag" and thus wouldn't work properly.
diff --git a/src/allmydata/scripts/create_node.py b/src/allmydata/scripts/create_node.py
index 4357abb49..8768bdd41 100644
--- a/src/allmydata/scripts/create_node.py
+++ b/src/allmydata/scripts/create_node.py
@@ -234,13 +234,15 @@ class CreateClientOptions(_CreateBaseOptions):
 class CreateNodeOptions(CreateClientOptions):
     optFlags = [
         ("no-storage", None, "Do not offer storage service to other nodes."),
-        ("storage-dir", None, "Path where the storage will be placed."),
         ("helper", None, "Enable helper"),
     ] + TOR_FLAGS + I2P_FLAGS
 
     synopsis = "[options] [NODEDIR]"
     description = "Create a full Tahoe-LAFS node (client+server)."
-    optParameters = CreateClientOptions.optParameters + WHERE_OPTS + TOR_OPTS + I2P_OPTS
+
+    optParameters = [
+        ("storage-dir", None, None, "Path where the storage will be placed."),
+    ] + CreateClientOptions.optParameters + WHERE_OPTS + TOR_OPTS + I2P_OPTS
 
     def parseArgs(self, basedir=None):
         CreateClientOptions.parseArgs(self, basedir)
diff --git a/src/allmydata/test/cli/test_create.py b/src/allmydata/test/cli/test_create.py
index 406aebd48..33df8c48f 100644
--- a/src/allmydata/test/cli/test_create.py
+++ b/src/allmydata/test/cli/test_create.py
@@ -240,6 +240,13 @@ class Config(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(cfg.getboolean("node", "reveal-IP-address"), True)
         self.assertFalse(cfg.has_section("connections"))
 
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def test_storage_dir(self):
+        basedir = self.mktemp()
+        rc, out, err = yield run_cli("create-node", "--storage-dir", "/tmp/storage", "--hostname=foo", basedir)
+        cfg = read_config(basedir)
+        self.assertEqual(cfg.get("storage", "storage_dir"), "/tmp/storage")
+
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_node_hide_ip(self):
         basedir = self.mktemp()