diff --git a/packages/playwright/src/matchers/expect.ts b/packages/playwright/src/matchers/expect.ts
index 3e49360eb7..ea796bfc72 100644
--- a/packages/playwright/src/matchers/expect.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright/src/matchers/expect.ts
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ import {
 } from '../common/expectBundle';
 import { zones } from 'playwright-core/lib/utils';
 import { TestInfoImpl } from '../worker/testInfo';
-import { ExpectError } from './matcherHint';
+import { ExpectError, isExpectError } from './matcherHint';
 
 // #region
 // Mirrored from https://github.com/facebook/jest/blob/f13abff8df9a0e1148baf3584bcde6d1b479edc7/packages/expect/src/print.ts
@@ -289,8 +289,8 @@ class ExpectMetaInfoProxyHandler implements ProxyHandler<any> {
 
       const step = testInfo._addStep(stepInfo);
 
-      const reportStepError = (jestError: ExpectError) => {
-        const error = new ExpectError(jestError, customMessage, stackFrames);
+      const reportStepError = (jestError: Error | unknown) => {
+        const error = isExpectError(jestError) ? new ExpectError(jestError, customMessage, stackFrames) : jestError;
         step.complete({ error });
         if (this._info.isSoft)
           testInfo._failWithError(error);
diff --git a/packages/playwright/src/matchers/matcherHint.ts b/packages/playwright/src/matchers/matcherHint.ts
index e8aba2bbff..8a78932c68 100644
--- a/packages/playwright/src/matchers/matcherHint.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright/src/matchers/matcherHint.ts
@@ -64,3 +64,7 @@ export class ExpectError extends Error {
     this.stack = this.name + ': ' + this.message + '\n' + stringifyStackFrames(stackFrames).join('\n');
   }
 }
+
+export function isExpectError(e: unknown): e is ExpectError {
+  return e instanceof Error && 'matcherResult' in e;
+}
diff --git a/packages/playwright/src/worker/testInfo.ts b/packages/playwright/src/worker/testInfo.ts
index e6b07be7c0..378b32524f 100644
--- a/packages/playwright/src/worker/testInfo.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright/src/worker/testInfo.ts
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ import type { Attachment } from './testTracing';
 import type { StackFrame } from '@protocol/channels';
 
 export interface TestStepInternal {
-  complete(result: { error?: Error, attachments?: Attachment[] }): void;
+  complete(result: { error?: Error | unknown, attachments?: Attachment[] }): void;
   stepId: string;
   title: string;
   category: 'hook' | 'fixture' | 'test.step' | 'expect' | 'attach' | string;
@@ -270,7 +270,7 @@ export class TestInfoImpl implements TestInfo {
 
         step.endWallTime = Date.now();
         if (result.error) {
-          if (!(result.error as any)[stepSymbol])
+          if (typeof result.error === 'object' && !(result.error as any)?.[stepSymbol])
             (result.error as any)[stepSymbol] = step;
           const error = serializeError(result.error);
           if (data.boxedStack)
@@ -327,13 +327,13 @@ export class TestInfoImpl implements TestInfo {
       this.status = 'interrupted';
   }
 
-  _failWithError(error: Error) {
+  _failWithError(error: Error | unknown) {
     if (this.status === 'passed' || this.status === 'skipped')
       this.status = error instanceof TimeoutManagerError ? 'timedOut' : 'failed';
     const serialized = serializeError(error);
-    const step = (error as any)[stepSymbol] as TestStepInternal | undefined;
+    const step: TestStepInternal | undefined = typeof error === 'object' ? (error as any)?.[stepSymbol] : undefined;
     if (step && step.boxedStack)
-      serialized.stack = `${error.name}: ${error.message}\n${stringifyStackFrames(step.boxedStack).join('\n')}`;
+      serialized.stack = `${(error as Error).name}: ${(error as Error).message}\n${stringifyStackFrames(step.boxedStack).join('\n')}`;
     this.errors.push(serialized);
     this._tracing.appendForError(serialized);
   }
diff --git a/tests/playwright-test/expect-poll.spec.ts b/tests/playwright-test/expect-poll.spec.ts
index e740fd5abe..aa8bbde79d 100644
--- a/tests/playwright-test/expect-poll.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/playwright-test/expect-poll.spec.ts
@@ -232,3 +232,29 @@ test('should show intermediate result for poll that spills over test time', asyn
   expect(result.output).toContain('Expected: 2');
   expect(result.output).toContain('Received: 3');
 });
+
+test('should propagate promise rejections', { annotation: { type: 'issue', description: 'https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/issues/32256' } }, async ({ runInlineTest }) => {
+  const result = await runInlineTest({
+    'a.spec.ts': `
+      import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test';
+      test('should fail', async () => {
+        await expect.poll(() => Promise.reject('some error')).toBe({ foo: 'baz' });
+      });
+    `
+  });
+
+  expect(result.output).toContain('some error');
+});
+
+test('should propagate string exception from async arrow function', { annotation: { type: 'issue', description: 'https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/issues/32256' } }, async ({ runInlineTest }) => {
+  const result = await runInlineTest({
+    'a.spec.ts': `
+      import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test';
+      test('should fail', async () => {
+        await expect.poll(async () => { throw 'some error' }).toBe({ foo: 'baz' });
+      });
+    `
+  });
+
+  expect(result.output).toContain('some error');
+});
\ No newline at end of file