diff --git a/packages/playwright/src/runner/tasks.ts b/packages/playwright/src/runner/tasks.ts
index f343f06bfe..d50bb91229 100644
--- a/packages/playwright/src/runner/tasks.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright/src/runner/tasks.ts
@@ -234,7 +234,7 @@ function createLoadTask(mode: 'out-of-process' | 'in-process', options: { filter
       if (testRun.config.cliOnlyChanged && options.filterOnlyChanged) {
         for (const plugin of testRun.config.plugins)
           await plugin.instance?.populateDependencies?.();
-        const changedFiles = await detectChangedFiles(testRun.config.cliOnlyChanged);
+        const changedFiles = await detectChangedFiles(testRun.config.cliOnlyChanged, testRun.config.configDir);
         cliOnlyChangedMatcher = file => changedFiles.has(file);
       }
 
diff --git a/packages/playwright/src/runner/vcs.ts b/packages/playwright/src/runner/vcs.ts
index 5ef75e8be4..325e901bec 100644
--- a/packages/playwright/src/runner/vcs.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright/src/runner/vcs.ts
@@ -18,12 +18,12 @@ import childProcess from 'child_process';
 import { affectedTestFiles } from '../transform/compilationCache';
 import path from 'path';
 
-export async function detectChangedFiles(baseCommit: string): Promise<Set<string>> {
+export async function detectChangedFiles(baseCommit: string, configDir: string): Promise<Set<string>> {
   function gitFileList(command: string) {
     try {
       return childProcess.execSync(
           `git ${command}`,
-          { encoding: 'utf-8', stdio: 'pipe' }
+          { encoding: 'utf-8', stdio: 'pipe', cwd: configDir }
       ).split('\n').filter(Boolean);
     } catch (_error) {
       const error = _error as childProcess.SpawnSyncReturns<string>;