diff --git a/packages/playwright/src/matchers/expect.ts b/packages/playwright/src/matchers/expect.ts
index 102ec98d9a..2bf73ef3ac 100644
--- a/packages/playwright/src/matchers/expect.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright/src/matchers/expect.ts
@@ -243,6 +243,8 @@ class ExpectMetaInfoProxyHandler implements ProxyHandler<any> {
     }
     return (...args: any[]) => {
       const testInfo = currentTestInfo();
+      // We assume that the matcher will read the current expect timeout the first thing.
+      setCurrentExpectConfigureTimeout(this._info.timeout);
       if (!testInfo)
         return matcher.call(target, ...args);
 
@@ -282,8 +284,7 @@ class ExpectMetaInfoProxyHandler implements ProxyHandler<any> {
       };
 
       const expectZone: ExpectZone = { title, wallTime };
-      // We assume that the matcher will read the current expect timeout the first thing.
-      setCurrentExpectConfigureTimeout(this._info.timeout);
+
       try {
         const result = zones.run<ExpectZone, any>('expectZone', expectZone, () => matcher.call(target, ...args));
         if (result instanceof Promise)
diff --git a/tests/playwright-test/expect.spec.ts b/tests/playwright-test/expect.spec.ts
index e56034c886..d5d4b338fa 100644
--- a/tests/playwright-test/expect.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/playwright-test/expect.spec.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 
 import path from 'path';
 import { test, expect, parseTestRunnerOutput, stripAnsi } from './playwright-test-fixtures';
+const { spawnAsync } = require('../../packages/playwright-core/lib/utils');
 
 test('should be able to call expect.extend in config', async ({ runInlineTest }) => {
   const result = await runInlineTest({
@@ -964,3 +965,38 @@ test('should support mergeExpects', async ({ runInlineTest }) => {
   expect(result.passed).toBe(1);
   expect(result.exitCode).toBe(0);
 });
+
+test('should respect timeout from configured expect when used outside of the test runner', async ({ runInlineTest, writeFiles, runTSC }) => {
+
+  const files = {
+    'script.mjs': `
+      import { test, expect as baseExpect, chromium } from '@playwright/test';
+
+      const configuredExpect = baseExpect.configure({
+        timeout: 10,
+      });
+
+      let browser;
+      try {
+        browser = await chromium.launch();
+        const context = await browser.newContext();
+        const page = await context.newPage();
+        await configuredExpect(page.getByTestId("does-not-exist")).toBeAttached();
+      } catch(e) {
+        console.error(e);
+        process.exit(1);
+      }
+      finally {
+        await browser?.close();
+      }
+    
+    `
+  };
+  const baseDir = await writeFiles(files);
+  const { code, stdout, stderr } = await spawnAsync('node', ['script.mjs'], { stdio: 'pipe', cwd: baseDir });
+
+
+  expect(code).toBe(1);
+  expect(stdout).toBe('');
+  expect(stripAnsi(stderr)).toContain('Timed out 10ms waiting for expect(locator).toBeAttached()');
+});