Employee creativity is a critical source of competitive advantage for organizations, particularly in the context of increasing remote work arrangements. However, the mechanism of how remote work affects employee creativity is not well understood, thus limiting evidence-based recommendations on managing employees who work remotely but are often evaluated as less creative. Specifically, two competing theories, self-determination theory and flow theory, each proposed a unique process. In this study, we investigate job autonomy and work-related flow as parallel mechanisms linking remote work and creativity. Data were collected from 152 employees in China through a three-wave time-lagged survey design. The results showed a significant indirect effect of remote work on creativity through job autonomy (b = 0.18, SE = 0.11, 95% CI = [0.01, 0.42]), but no significant mediating effect was observed through work-related flow. Employees with an increasing remote work percentage are more likely to experience greater job autonomy, which in turn enhances their creativity. Our conclusion remains unchanged with and without including age and gender as control variables. These findings clarify a key theoretical mechanism for remote work's positive effect on creativity, highlighting the critical role of autonomy-driven intrinsic motivation, rather than facilitating the state of flow. We discuss the implications for research on remote work and work motivation, as well as for practice in fostering creativity.