diff --git a/changelog/19.0/19.0.0/release_notes.md b/changelog/19.0/19.0.0/release_notes.md
index 98603d4240a..0a3f33f0fd9 100644
--- a/changelog/19.0/19.0.0/release_notes.md
+++ b/changelog/19.0/19.0.0/release_notes.md
@@ -53,6 +53,10 @@ Vitess will however, continue to support importing from MySQL 5.7 into Vitess ev
 
 #### <a id="deprecation-vitess-lite-mysqld"/>Docker Image vitess/lite
 
+> [!CAUTION]  
+> If you are using incremental backups, you must remain on the `vitess/lite` image, as the official MySQL image does not have `mysqlbinlog` installed.
+> See https://github.com/vitessio/vitess/issues/16281 for more information.
+
 The `mysqld` binary is now deprecated in the `vitess/lite` Docker image and will be removed in a future release.
 This means that the MySQL/Percona version specific image tags for the `vitess/lite` image are deprecated.
 
diff --git a/examples/operator/101_initial_cluster.yaml b/examples/operator/101_initial_cluster.yaml
index 8d8c6960dc2..2d386cd69f0 100644
--- a/examples/operator/101_initial_cluster.yaml
+++ b/examples/operator/101_initial_cluster.yaml
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ spec:
     vtbackup: vitess/lite:v20.0.0
     vtorc: vitess/lite:v20.0.0
     mysqld:
-      mysql80Compatible: mysql:8.0.30
+      mysql80Compatible: vitess/lite:v20.0.0
     mysqldExporter: prom/mysqld-exporter:v0.11.0
   cells:
   - name: zone1
diff --git a/examples/operator/201_customer_tablets.yaml b/examples/operator/201_customer_tablets.yaml
index a4dc2f4eb81..37b39060e50 100644
--- a/examples/operator/201_customer_tablets.yaml
+++ b/examples/operator/201_customer_tablets.yaml
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ spec:
     vtbackup: vitess/lite:v20.0.0
     vtorc: vitess/lite:v20.0.0
     mysqld:
-      mysql80Compatible: mysql:8.0.30
+      mysql80Compatible: vitess/lite:v20.0.0
     mysqldExporter: prom/mysqld-exporter:v0.11.0
   cells:
   - name: zone1
diff --git a/examples/operator/302_new_shards.yaml b/examples/operator/302_new_shards.yaml
index 38b0271f077..c1760f3166c 100644
--- a/examples/operator/302_new_shards.yaml
+++ b/examples/operator/302_new_shards.yaml
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ spec:
     vtbackup: vitess/lite:v20.0.0
     vtorc: vitess/lite:v20.0.0
     mysqld:
-      mysql80Compatible: mysql:8.0.30
+      mysql80Compatible: vitess/lite:v20.0.0
     mysqldExporter: prom/mysqld-exporter:v0.11.0
   cells:
   - name: zone1
diff --git a/examples/operator/306_down_shard_0.yaml b/examples/operator/306_down_shard_0.yaml
index f05d8ecc089..a1d5a45660d 100644
--- a/examples/operator/306_down_shard_0.yaml
+++ b/examples/operator/306_down_shard_0.yaml
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ spec:
     vtbackup: vitess/lite:v20.0.0
     vtorc: vitess/lite:v20.0.0
     mysqld:
-      mysql80Compatible: mysql:8.0.30
+      mysql80Compatible: vitess/lite:v20.0.0
     mysqldExporter: prom/mysqld-exporter:v0.11.0
   cells:
   - name: zone1
diff --git a/examples/operator/401_scheduled_backups.yaml b/examples/operator/401_scheduled_backups.yaml
index d748293c71c..b924ef727af 100644
--- a/examples/operator/401_scheduled_backups.yaml
+++ b/examples/operator/401_scheduled_backups.yaml
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ spec:
     vtbackup: vitess/lite:v20.0.0
     vtorc: vitess/lite:v20.0.0
     mysqld:
-      mysql80Compatible: mysql:8.0.30
+      mysql80Compatible: vitess/lite:v20.0.0
     mysqldExporter: prom/mysqld-exporter:v0.11.0
   cells:
   - name: zone1