diff --git a/docs/production/export-and-import.md b/docs/production/export-and-import.md
index 4ed73e7e21..e2728da89a 100644
--- a/docs/production/export-and-import.md
+++ b/docs/production/export-and-import.md
@@ -55,6 +55,16 @@ archive of all the organization's uploaded files.
 
 ## Import into a new Zulip server
 
+The Zulip server you're importing into needs to be running the same
+version of Zulip as the server you exported from, so that the same
+formats are consistent.  For exports from zulipchat.com, usually this
+means you need to upgrade your Zulip server to the latest `master`
+branch, using [upgrade-zulip-from-git][upgrade-zulip-from-git].
+
+First [install a new Zulip server](../production/install.html),
+skipping "Step 3: Create a Zulip organization, and log in" (you'll
+create your Zulip organization via the data import tool instead).
+
 Log in to a shell on your Zulip server as the `zulip` user. Run the
 following commands, replacing the filename with the path to your data
 export tarball:
diff --git a/templates/zerver/help/import-from-gitter.md b/templates/zerver/help/import-from-gitter.md
index c2cfb485e7..c43c6db802 100644
--- a/templates/zerver/help/import-from-gitter.md
+++ b/templates/zerver/help/import-from-gitter.md
@@ -33,9 +33,10 @@ organization first.
 
 ### Import into a self-hosted Zulip server
 
-Because the import tool is very new, you will need to
-upgrade your Zulip server to the latest `master` branch,
-using [upgrade-zulip-from-git][upgrade-zulip-from-git].
+First
+[install a new Zulip server](https://zulip.readthedocs.io/en/stable/production/install.html),
+skipping "Step 3: Create a Zulip organization, and log in" (you'll
+create your Zulip organization via the data import tool instead).
 
 Log in to a shell on your Zulip server as the `zulip` user. To import with
 the most common configuration, run the following commands, replacing
diff --git a/templates/zerver/help/import-from-hipchat.md b/templates/zerver/help/import-from-hipchat.md
index 4c276fc90a..40161ccb65 100644
--- a/templates/zerver/help/import-from-hipchat.md
+++ b/templates/zerver/help/import-from-hipchat.md
@@ -65,6 +65,11 @@ organization first.
 
 ### Import into a self-hosted Zulip server
 
+First
+[install a new Zulip server](https://zulip.readthedocs.io/en/stable/production/install.html),
+skipping "Step 3: Create a Zulip organization, and log in" (you'll
+create your Zulip organization via the data import tool instead).
+
 Because the import tool is very new, you will need to
 upgrade your Zulip server to the latest `master` branch,
 using [upgrade-zulip-from-git][upgrade-zulip-from-git].
diff --git a/templates/zerver/help/import-from-slack.md b/templates/zerver/help/import-from-slack.md
index 02a1dc2e04..bbf7c0ac07 100644
--- a/templates/zerver/help/import-from-slack.md
+++ b/templates/zerver/help/import-from-slack.md
@@ -35,9 +35,10 @@ organization first.
 
 ### Import into a self-hosted Zulip server
 
-Because the import tool is very new, you will need to
-upgrade your Zulip server to the latest `master` branch,
-using [upgrade-zulip-from-git][upgrade-zulip-from-git].
+First
+[install a new Zulip server](https://zulip.readthedocs.io/en/stable/production/install.html),
+skipping "Step 3: Create a Zulip organization, and log in" (you'll
+create your Zulip organization via the data import tool instead).
 
 Log in to a shell on your Zulip server as the `zulip` user. To import with
 the most common configuration, run the following commands, replacing