diff --git a/src/poetry/console/commands/check.py b/src/poetry/console/commands/check.py
index ae90004d318..86a7f5a02c2 100644
--- a/src/poetry/console/commands/check.py
+++ b/src/poetry/console/commands/check.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 from cleo.helpers import option
 
 from poetry.console.commands.command import Command
+from poetry.utils.helpers import lock_command_hint_for
 
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
@@ -161,9 +162,10 @@ def handle(self) -> int:
         if self.option("lock") and not self.poetry.locker.is_locked():
             check_result["errors"] += ["poetry.lock was not found."]
         if self.poetry.locker.is_locked() and not self.poetry.locker.is_fresh():
+            hint = lock_command_hint_for(self.poetry.locker.lock)
             check_result["errors"] += [
                 "pyproject.toml changed significantly since poetry.lock was last generated. "
-                "Run `poetry lock` to fix the lock file."
+                f"Run {hint} to fix the lock file."
             ]
 
         return_code = 0
diff --git a/src/poetry/console/commands/show.py b/src/poetry/console/commands/show.py
index 779f423bf49..66df0ad65d7 100644
--- a/src/poetry/console/commands/show.py
+++ b/src/poetry/console/commands/show.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 
 from poetry.console.commands.env_command import EnvCommand
 from poetry.console.commands.group_command import GroupCommand
+from poetry.utils.helpers import lock_command_hint_for
 
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
@@ -146,9 +147,9 @@ def handle(self) -> int:
             self.io.input.set_option("latest", True)
 
         if not self.poetry.locker.is_locked():
+            hint = lock_command_hint_for(self.poetry.locker.lock)
             self.line_error(
-                "<error>Error: poetry.lock not found. Run `poetry lock` to create"
-                " it.</error>"
+                f"<error>Error: poetry.lock not found. Run {hint} to create it.</error>"
             )
             return 1
 
diff --git a/src/poetry/installation/installer.py b/src/poetry/installation/installer.py
index b4e9eaaaafd..ec4b9b498d2 100644
--- a/src/poetry/installation/installer.py
+++ b/src/poetry/installation/installer.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 from poetry.repositories import RepositoryPool
 from poetry.repositories.installed_repository import InstalledRepository
 from poetry.repositories.lockfile_repository import LockfileRepository
+from poetry.utils.helpers import lock_command_hint_for
 
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
@@ -255,9 +256,10 @@ def _do_install(self) -> int:
             self._io.write_line("<info>Installing dependencies from lock file</>")
 
             if not self._locker.is_fresh():
+                hint = lock_command_hint_for(self._locker.lock)
                 raise ValueError(
                     "pyproject.toml changed significantly since poetry.lock was last"
-                    " generated. Run `poetry lock` to fix the lock file."
+                    f" generated. Run {hint} to fix the lock file."
                 )
             if not (reresolve or self._locker.is_locked_groups_and_markers()):
                 if self._io.is_verbose():
diff --git a/src/poetry/utils/helpers.py b/src/poetry/utils/helpers.py
index c5facf140f6..1d84bb3ef09 100644
--- a/src/poetry/utils/helpers.py
+++ b/src/poetry/utils/helpers.py
@@ -64,6 +64,25 @@
 )
 
 
+def lock_command_hint_for(lock_path: Path) -> str:
+    """Return the appropriate lock command hint for a given lock file path.
+
+    If the lock file resides in Poetry's configuration directory, this suggests
+    using the self-locking command. Otherwise, it suggests the regular project
+    lock command.
+    """
+    try:
+        from poetry.locations import CONFIG_DIR
+    except Exception:
+        return "`poetry lock`"
+
+    return (
+        "`poetry self lock`"
+        if lock_path.parent == Path(CONFIG_DIR)
+        else "`poetry lock`"
+    )
+
+
 @contextmanager
 def directory(path: Path) -> Iterator[Path]:
     cwd = Path.cwd()
diff --git a/tests/console/commands/self/test_show.py b/tests/console/commands/self/test_show.py
index d1b553a2af0..d924eecf8de 100644
--- a/tests/console/commands/self/test_show.py
+++ b/tests/console/commands/self/test_show.py
@@ -70,3 +70,30 @@ def test_show_format(tester: CommandTester, options: str) -> None:
     )
     assert tester.execute(options) == 0
     assert tester.io.fetch_output().strip() == expected
+
+
+def test_self_show_errors_without_lock_file(tester: CommandTester) -> None:
+    from poetry.console.commands.self.self_command import SelfCommand
+
+    pyproject_content = {
+        "tool": {
+            "poetry": {
+                "name": "poetry-instance",
+                "version": __version__,
+                "dependencies": {"python": "^3.9", "poetry": __version__},
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    system_pyproject_file = SelfCommand.get_default_system_pyproject_file()
+    system_pyproject_file.write_text(tomlkit.dumps(pyproject_content), encoding="utf-8")
+
+    lock_path = system_pyproject_file.parent.joinpath("poetry.lock")
+    if lock_path.exists():
+        lock_path.unlink()
+
+    tester.execute("")
+
+    expected = "Error: poetry.lock not found. Run `poetry self lock` to create it.\n"
+    assert tester.io.fetch_error() == expected
+    assert tester.status_code == 1
diff --git a/tests/installation/test_installer.py b/tests/installation/test_installer.py
index 851c9594b80..ef39a2adae9 100644
--- a/tests/installation/test_installer.py
+++ b/tests/installation/test_installer.py
@@ -228,6 +228,25 @@ def test_not_fresh_lock(installer: Installer, locker: Locker) -> None:
         installer.run()
 
 
+def test_not_fresh_lock_in_self_context_suggests_self_lock(
+    installer: Installer, locker: Locker
+) -> None:
+    from pathlib import Path
+
+    from poetry.locations import CONFIG_DIR
+
+    locker.locked().fresh(False).set_lock_path(Path(CONFIG_DIR))
+
+    with pytest.raises(
+        ValueError,
+        match=re.escape(
+            "pyproject.toml changed significantly since poetry.lock was last generated. "
+            "Run `poetry self lock` to fix the lock file."
+        ),
+    ):
+        installer.run()
+
+
 def test_run_with_dependencies(
     installer: Installer, locker: Locker, repo: Repository, package: ProjectPackage
 ) -> None: