diff --git a/src/test/runner.ts b/src/test/runner.ts
index 38d36ee6d9..acf5817484 100644
--- a/src/test/runner.ts
+++ b/src/test/runner.ts
@@ -449,10 +449,27 @@ function buildItemLocation(rootDir: string, testOrSuite: Suite | TestCase) {
 }
 
 function createTestGroups(rootSuite: Suite): TestGroup[] {
-  const groupById = new Map<string, TestGroup>();
+  // We try to preserve the order of tests when they require different workers
+  // by ordering different worker hashes sequentially.
+  const workerHashToOrdinal = new Map<string, number>();
+  const requireFileToOrdinal = new Map<string, number>();
+
+  const groupById = new Map<number, TestGroup>();
   for (const projectSuite of rootSuite.suites) {
     for (const test of projectSuite.allTests()) {
-      const id = test._workerHash + '::' + test._requireFile;
+      let workerHashOrdinal = workerHashToOrdinal.get(test._workerHash);
+      if (!workerHashOrdinal) {
+        workerHashOrdinal = workerHashToOrdinal.size + 1;
+        workerHashToOrdinal.set(test._workerHash, workerHashOrdinal);
+      }
+
+      let requireFileOrdinal = requireFileToOrdinal.get(test._requireFile);
+      if (!requireFileOrdinal) {
+        requireFileOrdinal = requireFileToOrdinal.size + 1;
+        requireFileToOrdinal.set(test._requireFile, requireFileOrdinal);
+      }
+
+      const id = workerHashOrdinal * 10000 + requireFileOrdinal;
       let group = groupById.get(id);
       if (!group) {
         group = {
@@ -467,9 +484,11 @@ function createTestGroups(rootSuite: Suite): TestGroup[] {
       group.tests.push(test);
     }
   }
-  const groups = Array.from(groupById.values());
-  groups.sort((a, b) => a.workerHash.localeCompare(b.workerHash));
-  return groups;
+
+  // Sorting ids will preserve the natural order, because we
+  // replaced hashes with ordinals according to the natural ordering.
+  const ids = Array.from(groupById.keys()).sort();
+  return ids.map(id => groupById.get(id)!);
 }
 
 class ListModeReporter implements Reporter {
diff --git a/tests/playwright-test/shard.spec.ts b/tests/playwright-test/shard.spec.ts
index 1fc2bcaaae..97fed8a975 100644
--- a/tests/playwright-test/shard.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/playwright-test/shard.spec.ts
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ import { test, expect } from './playwright-test-fixtures';
 
 const tests = {
   'a.spec.ts': `
-    const { test } = pwt;
+    const test = pwt.test.extend({ foo: 'bar' });
     test.use({ headless: false });
     test('test1', async () => {
       console.log('test1-done');
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ const tests = {
     });
   `,
   'b.spec.ts': `
-    const { test } = pwt;
+    const test = pwt.test.extend({ bar: 'foo' });
     test('test4', async () => {
       console.log('test4-done');
     });
@@ -49,9 +49,9 @@ test('should respect shard=1/2', async ({ runInlineTest }) => {
   expect(result.exitCode).toBe(0);
   expect(result.passed).toBe(3);
   expect(result.skipped).toBe(0);
-  expect(result.output).toContain('test2-done');
   expect(result.output).toContain('test1-done');
   expect(result.output).toContain('test3-done');
+  expect(result.output).toContain('test2-done');
 });
 
 test('should respect shard=2/2', async ({ runInlineTest }) => {
@@ -69,11 +69,11 @@ test('should respect shard=1/2 in config', async ({ runInlineTest }) => {
     'playwright.config.js': `
       module.exports = { shard: { current: 1, total: 2 } };
     `,
-  }, { shard: '1/2' });
+  });
   expect(result.exitCode).toBe(0);
   expect(result.passed).toBe(3);
   expect(result.skipped).toBe(0);
-  expect(result.output).toContain('test2-done');
   expect(result.output).toContain('test1-done');
   expect(result.output).toContain('test3-done');
+  expect(result.output).toContain('test2-done');
 });