diff --git a/packages/playwright/src/runner/tasks.ts b/packages/playwright/src/runner/tasks.ts
index 7f874aef4e..7127f35ec2 100644
--- a/packages/playwright/src/runner/tasks.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright/src/runner/tasks.ts
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ function addRunTasks(taskRunner: TaskRunner<TestRun>, config: FullConfigInternal
 
 export function createTaskRunnerForList(config: FullConfigInternal, reporter: ReporterV2, mode: 'in-process' | 'out-of-process', options: { failOnLoadErrors: boolean }): TaskRunner<TestRun> {
   const taskRunner = new TaskRunner<TestRun>(reporter, config.config.globalTimeout);
-  taskRunner.addTask('load tests', createLoadTask(mode, { ...options, filterOnly: false }));
+  taskRunner.addTask('load tests', createLoadTask(mode, { ...options, filterOnly: true }));
   taskRunner.addTask('report begin', createReportBeginTask());
   return taskRunner;
 }
diff --git a/tests/playwright-test/list-mode.spec.ts b/tests/playwright-test/list-mode.spec.ts
index 1388b38dd9..80e21fd8f2 100644
--- a/tests/playwright-test/list-mode.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/playwright-test/list-mode.spec.ts
@@ -152,7 +152,8 @@ test('should report errors', async ({ runInlineTest }) => {
   expect(result.output).toContain('> 3 |       oh = 2;');
 });
 
-test('should ignore .only', async ({ runInlineTest }) => {
+test('should respect .only', async ({ runInlineTest }) => {
+  test.info().annotations.push({ type: 'issue', description: 'https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/issues/28709' });
   const result = await runInlineTest({
     'a.test.js': `
       const { test, expect } = require('@playwright/test');
@@ -167,9 +168,8 @@ test('should ignore .only', async ({ runInlineTest }) => {
   expect(result.exitCode).toBe(0);
   expect(result.output).toContain([
     `Listing tests:`,
-    `  a.test.js:3:7 › example1`,
     `  a.test.js:6:12 › example2`,
-    `Total: 2 tests in 1 file`
+    `Total: 1 test in 1 file`
   ].join('\n'));
 });