diff --git a/packages/playwright-test/src/matchers/expect.ts b/packages/playwright-test/src/matchers/expect.ts
index a18214f538..b6c63888bc 100644
--- a/packages/playwright-test/src/matchers/expect.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright-test/src/matchers/expect.ts
@@ -250,11 +250,12 @@ class ExpectMetaInfoProxyHandler implements ProxyHandler<any> {
       const argsSuffix = computeArgsSuffix(matcherName, args);
 
       const defaultTitle = `expect${this._info.isPoll ? '.poll' : ''}${this._info.isSoft ? '.soft' : ''}${this._info.isNot ? '.not' : ''}.${matcherName}${argsSuffix}`;
+      const title = customMessage || defaultTitle;
       const wallTime = Date.now();
       const step = matcherName !== 'toPass' ? testInfo._addStep({
         location: stackFrames[0],
         category: 'expect',
-        title: trimLongString(customMessage || defaultTitle, 1024),
+        title: trimLongString(title, 1024),
         params: args[0] ? { expected: args[0] } : undefined,
         wallTime,
         infectParentStepsWithError: this._info.isSoft,
@@ -301,7 +302,7 @@ class ExpectMetaInfoProxyHandler implements ProxyHandler<any> {
       if (this._info.isPoll || (matcherName in customAsyncMatchers && matcherName !== 'toPass')) {
         return (async () => {
           try {
-            const expectZone: ExpectZone = { title: defaultTitle, wallTime };
+            const expectZone: ExpectZone = { title, wallTime };
             await zones.run<ExpectZone, any>('expectZone', expectZone, async () => {
               // We assume that the matcher will read the current expect timeout the first thing.
               setCurrentExpectConfigureTimeout(this._info.timeout);
diff --git a/tests/playwright-test/playwright.trace.spec.ts b/tests/playwright-test/playwright.trace.spec.ts
index 0fd48c517a..ae785fea38 100644
--- a/tests/playwright-test/playwright.trace.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/playwright-test/playwright.trace.spec.ts
@@ -731,3 +731,38 @@ test('should not throw when screenshot on failure fails', async ({ runInlineTest
   // One screenshot for the page, no screenshot for pdf page since it should have failed.
   expect(attachedScreenshots.length).toBe(1);
 });
+
+test('should use custom expect message in trace', async ({ runInlineTest }, testInfo) => {
+  const result = await runInlineTest({
+    'playwright.config.ts': `
+      module.exports = { use: { trace: { mode: 'on' } } };
+    `,
+    'a.spec.ts': `
+      import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test';
+      test('fail', async ({ page }) => {
+        await expect(
+            page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Find a hotel' }),
+            'expect to have text: find a hotel'
+        ).toHaveCount(0);
+      });
+    `,
+  }, { workers: 1 });
+
+  expect(result.exitCode).toBe(0);
+  expect(result.passed).toBe(1);
+  const trace = await parseTrace(testInfo.outputPath('test-results', 'a-fail', 'trace.zip'));
+  expect(trace.actionTree).toEqual([
+    'Before Hooks',
+    '  fixture: browser',
+    '    browserType.launch',
+    '  fixture: context',
+    '    browser.newContext',
+    '    tracing.start',
+    '  fixture: page',
+    '    browserContext.newPage',
+    'expect to have text: find a hotel',
+    'After Hooks',
+    '  fixture: page',
+    '  fixture: context',
+  ]);
+});