diff --git a/packages/playwright/src/index.ts b/packages/playwright/src/index.ts
index 386d198698..83913c18dc 100644
--- a/packages/playwright/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright/src/index.ts
@@ -369,9 +369,7 @@ const playwrightFixtures: Fixtures<TestFixtures, WorkerFixtures> = ({
     });
 
     let counter = 0;
-    let closeReason = testInfo.status === 'timedOut' ? 'Test timeout of ' + testInfo.timeout + 'ms exceeded.' : 'Test ended.';
-    if (testInfo.status === 'failed' && testInfo.error?.message?.startsWith('TimeoutError: Step timeout of '))
-      closeReason = testInfo.error.message.substring('TimeoutError: '.length);
+    const closeReason = testInfo.status === 'timedOut' ? 'Test timeout of ' + testInfo.timeout + 'ms exceeded.' : 'Test ended.';
     await Promise.all([...contexts.keys()].map(async context => {
       await (context as any)._wrapApiCall(async () => {
         await context.close({ reason: closeReason });
diff --git a/tests/playwright-test/test-step.spec.ts b/tests/playwright-test/test-step.spec.ts
index 623100d36f..7d509fda25 100644
--- a/tests/playwright-test/test-step.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/playwright-test/test-step.spec.ts
@@ -438,7 +438,8 @@ test('step timeout includes interrupted action errors', async ({ runInlineTest }
   // Should include 2 errors, one for the step timeout and one for the aborted action.
   expect.soft(result.output).toContain('TimeoutError: Step timeout of 1000ms exceeded.');
   expect.soft(result.output).toContain(`> 4 |         await test.step('my step', async () => {`);
-  expect.soft(result.output).toContain('Error: page.waitForTimeout: Step timeout of 1000ms exceeded.');
+  expect.soft(result.output).toContain('Error: page.waitForTimeout: Test ended.');
+  expect.soft(result.output.split('Error: page.waitForTimeout: Test ended.').length).toBe(2);
   expect.soft(result.output).toContain('> 5 |           await page.waitForTimeout(100_000);');
 });