diff --git a/docs/src/test-cli-js.md b/docs/src/test-cli-js.md
index 193e2cae6f..6eeec4abe2 100644
--- a/docs/src/test-cli-js.md
+++ b/docs/src/test-cli-js.md
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ Complete set of Playwright Test options is available in the [configuration file]
 | `--no-deps` | Ignore the dependencies between projects and behave as if they were not specified. |
 | `--output <dir>` | Directory for artifacts produced by tests, defaults to `test-results`. |
 | `--pass-with-no-tests` | Allows the test suite to pass when no files are found. |
-| `--project <name>` | Only run tests from one of the specified [projects](./test-projects.md). Defaults to running all projects defined in the configuration file.|
+| `--project <name>` | Only run tests from the projects matching this regular expression. Defaults to running all projects defined in the configuration file.|
 | `--quiet` | Whether to suppress stdout and stderr from the tests. |
 | `--repeat-each <N>` | Run each test `N` times, defaults to one. |
 | `--reporter <reporter>` | Choose a reporter: minimalist `dot`, concise `line` or detailed `list`. See [reporters](./test-reporters.md) for more information. |
diff --git a/packages/playwright/src/program.ts b/packages/playwright/src/program.ts
index ef6ad1c8d0..f3d3fc26c4 100644
--- a/packages/playwright/src/program.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright/src/program.ts
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ function addListFilesCommand(program: Command) {
   const command = program.command('list-files [file-filter...]', { hidden: true });
   command.description('List files with Playwright Test tests');
   command.option('-c, --config <file>', `Configuration file, or a test directory with optional "playwright.config.{m,c}?{js,ts}"`);
-  command.option('--project <project-name...>', `Only run tests from the specified list of projects (default: list all projects)`);
+  command.option('--project <project-name...>', `Only run tests from the projects matching this regular expression (default: list all projects)`);
   command.action(async (args, opts) => {
     try {
       await listTestFiles(opts);
@@ -327,7 +327,7 @@ const testOptions: [string, string][] = [
   ['--no-deps', 'Do not run project dependencies'],
   ['--output <dir>', `Folder for output artifacts (default: "test-results")`],
   ['--pass-with-no-tests', `Makes test run succeed even if no tests were found`],
-  ['--project <project-name...>', `Only run tests from the specified list of projects (default: run all projects)`],
+  ['--project <project-name...>', `Only run tests from the projects matching this regular expression (default: run all projects)`],
   ['--quiet', `Suppress stdio`],
   ['--repeat-each <N>', `Run each test N times (default: 1)`],
   ['--reporter <reporter>', `Reporter to use, comma-separated, can be ${builtInReporters.map(name => `"${name}"`).join(', ')} (default: "${defaultReporter}")`],
diff --git a/packages/playwright/src/runner/projectUtils.ts b/packages/playwright/src/runner/projectUtils.ts
index 4469be3744..ee0ab7d3e7 100644
--- a/packages/playwright/src/runner/projectUtils.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright/src/runner/projectUtils.ts
@@ -24,26 +24,32 @@ import { createFileMatcher } from '../util';
 const readFileAsync = promisify(fs.readFile);
 const readDirAsync = promisify(fs.readdir);
 
+// The difference to forceRegExp is that we want to match the whole string.
+function forceBoundedRegExp(pattern: string): RegExp {
+  const match = pattern.match(/^\/(.*)\/([gi]*)$/);
+  if (match)
+    return new RegExp(match[1], match[2]);
+  return new RegExp(`^${pattern}$`, 'gi');
+}
+
 export function filterProjects(projects: FullProjectInternal[], projectNames?: string[]): FullProjectInternal[] {
   if (!projectNames)
     return [...projects];
-  const projectsToFind = new Set<string>();
-  const unknownProjects = new Map<string, string>();
-  projectNames.forEach(n => {
-    const name = n.toLocaleLowerCase();
-    projectsToFind.add(name);
-    unknownProjects.set(name, n);
-  });
+  const unmatchedProjectFilters = new Set<string>(projectNames);
   const result = projects.filter(project => {
-    const name = project.project.name.toLocaleLowerCase();
-    unknownProjects.delete(name);
-    return projectsToFind.has(name);
+    for (const projectName of projectNames) {
+      if (forceBoundedRegExp(projectName).test(project.project.name)) {
+        unmatchedProjectFilters.delete(projectName);
+        return true;
+      }
+    }
+    return false;
   });
-  if (unknownProjects.size) {
+  if (unmatchedProjectFilters.size) {
     const names = projects.map(p => p.project.name).filter(name => !!name);
     if (!names.length)
       throw new Error(`No named projects are specified in the configuration file`);
-    const unknownProjectNames = Array.from(unknownProjects.values()).map(n => `"${n}"`).join(', ');
+    const unknownProjectNames = Array.from(unmatchedProjectFilters.values()).map(n => `"${n}"`).join(', ');
     throw new Error(`Project(s) ${unknownProjectNames} not found. Available named projects: ${names.map(name => `"${name}"`).join(', ')}`);
   }
   return result;
diff --git a/tests/playwright-test/config.spec.ts b/tests/playwright-test/config.spec.ts
index 0d786de0ce..47a2dc04c0 100644
--- a/tests/playwright-test/config.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/playwright-test/config.spec.ts
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ test('should throw when test() is called in config file', async ({ runInlineTest
 });
 
 test('should filter by project, case-insensitive', async ({ runInlineTest }) => {
-  const { passed, failed, output, skipped } = await runInlineTest({
+  const { passed, failed, outputLines, skipped } = await runInlineTest({
     'playwright.config.ts': `
       module.exports = { projects: [
         { name: 'suite1' },
@@ -231,17 +231,82 @@ test('should filter by project, case-insensitive', async ({ runInlineTest }) =>
       ] };
     `,
     'a.test.ts': `
-      import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test';
+      import { test } from '@playwright/test';
       test('pass', async ({}, testInfo) => {
-        console.log(testInfo.project.name);
+        console.log('%%' + test.info().project.name);
       });
     `
   }, { project: 'SUite2' });
   expect(passed).toBe(1);
   expect(failed).toBe(0);
   expect(skipped).toBe(0);
-  expect(output).toContain('suite2');
-  expect(output).not.toContain('suite1');
+  expect(new Set(outputLines)).toEqual(new Set([
+    'suite2',
+  ]));
+});
+
+test('should filter by project and parse as RegExp', async ({ runInlineTest }) => {
+  const result = await runInlineTest({
+    'playwright.config.js': `
+      module.exports = {
+        projects: [
+         { name: 'project-name' }
+        ]
+      };
+    `,
+    'a.test.js': `
+      const { test } = require('@playwright/test');
+      test('one', async ({}) => {
+        console.log('%%' + test.info().project.name);
+      });    `
+  }, { project: '.*oj.*t-Na.?e' });
+  expect(result.exitCode).toBe(0);
+  expect(result.output).toContain('Running 1 test using 1 worker');
+  expect(new Set(result.outputLines)).toEqual(new Set([
+    'project-name',
+  ]));
+});
+
+test('should filter by project and only match if its full-match', async ({ runInlineTest }) => {
+  const result = await runInlineTest({
+    'playwright.config.js': `
+      module.exports = {
+        projects: [
+         { name: 'prefix-foobar-suffix' },
+         { name: 'foobar' }
+        ]
+      };
+    `,
+    'a.test.js': `
+      const { test } = require('@playwright/test');
+      test('one', async ({}) => {
+        console.log('%%' + test.info().project.name);
+      });    `
+  }, { project: 'foobar' });
+  expect(result.exitCode).toBe(0);
+  expect(result.output).toContain('Running 1 test using 1 worker');
+  expect(new Set(result.outputLines)).toEqual(new Set(['foobar']));
+});
+
+test('should filter by project and allow passing RegExp start/end flags', async ({ runInlineTest }) => {
+  const result = await runInlineTest({
+    'playwright.config.js': `
+      module.exports = {
+        projects: [
+         { name: 'prefix-fooBar' },
+         { name: 'fooBar' },
+         { name: 'foobar' },
+        ]
+      };
+    `,
+    'a.test.js': `
+      const { test } = require('@playwright/test');
+      test('one', async ({}) => {
+        console.log('%%' + test.info().project.name);
+      });    `
+  }, { project: '/fooBar$/' });
+  expect(result.exitCode).toBe(0);
+  expect(new Set(result.outputLines)).toEqual(new Set(['prefix-fooBar', 'fooBar']));
 });
 
 test('should print nice error when project is unknown', async ({ runInlineTest }) => {
@@ -254,9 +319,7 @@ test('should print nice error when project is unknown', async ({ runInlineTest }
     `,
     'a.test.ts': `
       import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test';
-      test('pass', async ({}, testInfo) => {
-        console.log(testInfo.project.name);
-      });
+      test('pass', async ({}, testInfo) => {});
     `
   }, { project: 'suite3' });
   expect(exitCode).toBe(1);
@@ -264,7 +327,7 @@ test('should print nice error when project is unknown', async ({ runInlineTest }
 });
 
 test('should filter by project list, case-insensitive', async ({ runInlineTest }) => {
-  const { passed, failed, output, skipped } = await runInlineTest({
+  const { passed, failed, outputLines, skipped } = await runInlineTest({
     'playwright.config.ts': `
       module.exports = { projects: [
         { name: 'suite1' },
@@ -276,21 +339,18 @@ test('should filter by project list, case-insensitive', async ({ runInlineTest }
     'a.test.ts': `
       import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test';
       test('pass', async ({}, testInfo) => {
-        console.log(testInfo.project.name);
+        console.log('%%' + test.info().project.name);
       });
     `
   }, { project: ['SUite2',  'Suite3'] });
   expect(passed).toBe(2);
   expect(failed).toBe(0);
   expect(skipped).toBe(0);
-  expect(output).toContain('suite2');
-  expect(output).toContain('suite3');
-  expect(output).not.toContain('suite1');
-  expect(output).not.toContain('suite4');
+  expect(new Set(outputLines)).toEqual(new Set(['suite3', 'suite2']));
 });
 
 test('should filter when duplicate project names exist', async ({ runInlineTest }) => {
-  const { passed, failed, output, skipped } = await runInlineTest({
+  const { passed, failed, outputLines, skipped } = await runInlineTest({
     'playwright.config.ts': `
       module.exports = { projects: [
         { name: 'suite1' },
@@ -302,16 +362,14 @@ test('should filter when duplicate project names exist', async ({ runInlineTest
     'a.test.ts': `
       import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test';
       test('pass', async ({}, testInfo) => {
-        console.log(testInfo.project.name);
+        console.log('%%' + test.info().project.name);
       });
     `
   }, { project: ['suite1',  'sUIte4'] });
   expect(passed).toBe(3);
   expect(failed).toBe(0);
   expect(skipped).toBe(0);
-  expect(output).toContain('suite1');
-  expect(output).toContain('suite4');
-  expect(output).not.toContain('suite2');
+  expect(new Set(outputLines)).toEqual(new Set(['suite1', 'suite1', 'suite4']));
 });
 
 test('should print nice error when some of the projects are unknown', async ({ runInlineTest }) => {