diff --git a/packages/playwright-test/src/index.ts b/packages/playwright-test/src/index.ts
index 53a602091f..7249809221 100644
--- a/packages/playwright-test/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright-test/src/index.ts
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ export const test = _baseTest.extend<TestFixtures, WorkerFixtures>({
   ignoreHTTPSErrors: [ undefined, { option: true } ],
   isMobile: [ undefined, { option: true } ],
   javaScriptEnabled: [ undefined, { option: true } ],
-  locale: [ undefined, { option: true } ],
+  locale: [ 'en-US', { option: true } ],
   offline: [ undefined, { option: true } ],
   permissions: [ undefined, { option: true } ],
   proxy: [ undefined, { option: true } ],
diff --git a/tests/har.spec.ts b/tests/har.spec.ts
index db1e89530e..ca46351f80 100644
--- a/tests/har.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/har.spec.ts
@@ -82,8 +82,11 @@ it('should have pages in persistent context', async ({ launchPersistent }, testI
   await page.waitForLoadState('domcontentloaded');
   await context.close();
   const log = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(harPath).toString())['log'];
-  expect(log.pages.length).toBe(1);
-  const pageEntry = log.pages[0];
+  // Explicit locale emulation forces a new page creation when
+  // doing a new context.
+  // See https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/blob/13dd41c2e36a63f35ddef5dc5dec322052d670c6/packages/playwright-core/src/server/browserContext.ts#L232-L242
+  expect(log.pages.length).toBe(2);
+  const pageEntry = log.pages[1];
   expect(pageEntry.id).toBeTruthy();
   expect(pageEntry.title).toBe('Hello');
 });