diff --git a/packages/playwright-core/src/cli/cli.ts b/packages/playwright-core/src/cli/cli.ts
index 0da0cfd554..2b18e669fb 100755
--- a/packages/playwright-core/src/cli/cli.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright-core/src/cli/cli.ts
@@ -19,9 +19,13 @@ import { fork } from 'child_process';
 
 if (process.env.PW_EXPERIMENTAL_TS_ESM) {
   const NODE_OPTIONS = (process.env.NODE_OPTIONS || '') + ` --experimental-loader=${require.resolve('@playwright/test/lib/experimentalLoader')}`;
-  fork(require.resolve('./innerCli'), process.argv.slice(2), {
+  const innerProcess = fork(require.resolve('./innerCli'), process.argv.slice(2), {
     env: { ...process.env, NODE_OPTIONS }
   });
+
+  innerProcess.on('close', code => {
+    if (code !== 0 && code !== null) process.exit(code);
+  });
 } else {
   require('./innerCli');
 }
diff --git a/tests/playwright-test/loader.spec.ts b/tests/playwright-test/loader.spec.ts
index 5aba8151a5..d596947b88 100644
--- a/tests/playwright-test/loader.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/playwright-test/loader.spec.ts
@@ -267,6 +267,24 @@ test('should import esm from ts when package.json has type module in experimenta
   expect(result.exitCode).toBe(0);
 });
 
+test('should propagate subprocess exit code in experimental mode', async ({ runInlineTest }) => {
+  // We only support experimental esm mode on Node 16+
+  test.skip(parseInt(process.version.slice(1), 10) < 16);
+  const result = await runInlineTest({
+    'package.json': JSON.stringify({ type: 'module' }),
+    'a.test.ts': `
+      const { test } = pwt;
+      test('failing test', ({}, testInfo) => {
+        expect(1).toBe(2);
+      });
+    `,
+  }, {}, {
+    PW_EXPERIMENTAL_TS_ESM: true
+  });
+
+  expect(result.exitCode).toBe(1);
+});
+
 test('should filter stack trace for simple expect', async ({ runInlineTest }) => {
   const result = await runInlineTest({
     'expect-test.spec.ts': `