diff --git a/packages/playwright/src/common/esmLoaderHost.ts b/packages/playwright/src/common/esmLoaderHost.ts
index b426810e4d50f..8886e4918c705 100644
--- a/packages/playwright/src/common/esmLoaderHost.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright/src/common/esmLoaderHost.ts
@@ -21,6 +21,33 @@ import { PortTransport } from '../transform/portTransport';
 import { singleTSConfig, transformConfig } from '../transform/transform';
 
 let loaderChannel: PortTransport | undefined;
+let loaderRegisteredWithRegisterHooks = false;
+
+type NodeModuleWithRegisterHooks = {
+  register?: (specifier: any, options: any) => unknown;
+  registerHooks?: (hooks: { resolve: Function, load: Function }) => unknown;
+};
+
+type ESMHooks = {
+  resolve: Function;
+  load: Function;
+  resolveSync: Function;
+  loadSync: Function;
+};
+
+export function registerESMLoaderOnModuleForTest(nodeModule: NodeModuleWithRegisterHooks, hooks: ESMHooks, registerFallback: () => void): 'registerHooks' | 'register' | undefined {
+  // Node 26 prefers registerHooks for module loader hooks. Keep module.register
+  // as a fallback for older supported Node versions that do not expose it.
+  if (typeof nodeModule.registerHooks === 'function') {
+    nodeModule.registerHooks({ resolve: hooks.resolveSync, load: hooks.loadSync });
+    return 'registerHooks';
+  }
+
+  if (typeof nodeModule.register === 'function') {
+    registerFallback();
+    return 'register';
+  }
+}
 
 export function registerESMLoader() {
   // Opt-out switch.
@@ -32,20 +59,26 @@ export function registerESMLoader() {
   if ('Bun' in globalThis)
     return true;
 
-  if (loaderChannel)
+  if (loaderChannel || loaderRegisteredWithRegisterHooks)
     return true;
 
-  const register = require('node:module').register;
-  if (!register)
+  const nodeModule = require('node:module') as NodeModuleWithRegisterHooks;
+  const esmLoader = require('../transform/esmLoader.js') as ESMHooks;
+  const mode = registerESMLoaderOnModuleForTest(nodeModule, esmLoader, () => {
+    const { port1, port2 } = new MessageChannel();
+    // register will wait until the loader is initialized.
+    nodeModule.register!(url.pathToFileURL(require.resolve('../transform/esmLoader.js')), {
+      data: { port: port2 },
+      transferList: [port2],
+    });
+    loaderChannel = createPortTransport(port1);
+  });
+  if (!mode)
     return false;
 
-  const { port1, port2 } = new MessageChannel();
-  // register will wait until the loader is initialized.
-  register(url.pathToFileURL(require.resolve('../transform/esmLoader.js')), {
-    data: { port: port2 },
-    transferList: [port2],
-  });
-  loaderChannel = createPortTransport(port1);
+  if (mode === 'registerHooks')
+    loaderRegisteredWithRegisterHooks = true;
+
   return true;
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/playwright/src/transform/esmLoader.ts b/packages/playwright/src/transform/esmLoader.ts
index 57e8ab6cbf7bc..d30fb1f2c8ecf 100644
--- a/packages/playwright/src/transform/esmLoader.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright/src/transform/esmLoader.ts
@@ -23,12 +23,10 @@ import { resolveHook, setSingleTSConfig, setTransformConfig, shouldTransform, tr
 import { fileIsModule } from '../util';
 
 // Before each import of the ESM module, a preflight request with the .esm.preflight extension is issued.
-// When handled, it is resolved similarly to the reqular import, but loading it yields empty content.
+// When handled, it is resolved similarly to the regular import, but loading it yields empty content.
 const esmPreflightExtension = '.esm.preflight';
 
-// Node < 18.6: defaultResolve takes 3 arguments.
-// Node >= 18.6: nextResolve from the chain takes 2 arguments.
-async function resolve(originalSpecifier: string, context: { parentURL?: string }, defaultResolve: Function) {
+function resolveSpecifier(originalSpecifier: string, context: { parentURL?: string }) {
   let specifier = originalSpecifier.replace(esmPreflightExtension, '');
   if (context.parentURL && context.parentURL.startsWith('file://')) {
     const filename = url.fileURLToPath(context.parentURL);
@@ -36,7 +34,10 @@ async function resolve(originalSpecifier: string, context: { parentURL?: string
     if (resolved !== undefined)
       specifier = url.pathToFileURL(resolved).toString();
   }
-  const result = await defaultResolve(specifier, context, defaultResolve);
+  return specifier;
+}
+
+function finishResolve(originalSpecifier: string, result: { url?: string }) {
   // Note: we collect dependencies here that will be sent to the main thread
   // (and optionally runner process) after the loading finishes.
   if (result?.url && result.url.startsWith('file://'))
@@ -47,6 +48,18 @@ async function resolve(originalSpecifier: string, context: { parentURL?: string
   return result;
 }
 
+// Node < 18.6: defaultResolve takes 3 arguments.
+// Node >= 18.6: nextResolve from the chain takes 2 arguments.
+async function resolve(originalSpecifier: string, context: { parentURL?: string }, defaultResolve: Function) {
+  const specifier = resolveSpecifier(originalSpecifier, context);
+  return finishResolve(originalSpecifier, await defaultResolve(specifier, context, defaultResolve));
+}
+
+function resolveSync(originalSpecifier: string, context: { parentURL?: string }, defaultResolve: Function) {
+  const specifier = resolveSpecifier(originalSpecifier, context);
+  return finishResolve(originalSpecifier, defaultResolve(specifier, context, defaultResolve));
+}
+
 // non-js files have undefined
 // some js files have null
 // {module/commonjs}-typescript are changed to {module,commonjs} because we handle typescript ourselves
@@ -59,9 +72,7 @@ const kSupportedFormats = new Map([
   [undefined, undefined]
 ]);
 
-// Node < 18.6: defaultLoad takes 3 arguments.
-// Node >= 18.6: nextLoad from the chain takes 2 arguments.
-async function load(moduleUrl: string, context: { format?: string }, defaultLoad: Function) {
+function loadSync(moduleUrl: string, context: { format?: string }, defaultLoad: Function) {
   // Bail out for wasm, json, etc.
   if (!kSupportedFormats.has(context.format))
     return defaultLoad(moduleUrl, context, defaultLoad);
@@ -96,6 +107,12 @@ async function load(moduleUrl: string, context: { format?: string }, defaultLoad
   };
 }
 
+// Node < 18.6: defaultLoad takes 3 arguments.
+// Node >= 18.6: nextLoad from the chain takes 2 arguments.
+async function load(moduleUrl: string, context: { format?: string }, defaultLoad: Function) {
+  return loadSync(moduleUrl, context, defaultLoad);
+}
+
 let transport: PortTransport | undefined;
 
 function initialize(data: { port: MessagePort }) {
@@ -135,4 +152,4 @@ function createTransport(port: MessagePort) {
 }
 
 
-module.exports = { initialize, load, resolve };
+module.exports = { initialize, load, loadSync, resolve, resolveSync };
diff --git a/tests/playwright-test/loader.spec.ts b/tests/playwright-test/loader.spec.ts
index fcc56e0c79dfa..94523c7a08373 100644
--- a/tests/playwright-test/loader.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/playwright-test/loader.spec.ts
@@ -15,9 +15,47 @@
  */
 
 import { test, expect, playwrightCtConfigText } from './playwright-test-fixtures';
+import { registerESMLoaderOnModuleForTest } from '../../packages/playwright/src/common/esmLoaderHost';
 import path from 'path';
 import url from 'url';
 
+test('should prefer module.registerHooks when available for playwright ESM loader registration', () => {
+  const calls: string[] = [];
+  const hooks = {
+    resolve: () => {},
+    load: () => {},
+    resolveSync: () => {},
+    loadSync: () => {},
+  };
+
+  const mode = registerESMLoaderOnModuleForTest({
+    registerHooks: registeredHooks => {
+      expect(registeredHooks).toEqual({ resolve: hooks.resolveSync, load: hooks.loadSync });
+      calls.push('registerHooks');
+    },
+    register: () => calls.push('register'),
+  }, hooks, () => calls.push('register'));
+
+  expect(mode).toBe('registerHooks');
+  expect(calls).toEqual(['registerHooks']);
+});
+
+test('should fall back to module.register when registerHooks is unavailable for playwright ESM loader registration', () => {
+  const calls: string[] = [];
+
+  const mode = registerESMLoaderOnModuleForTest({
+    register: () => calls.push('nodeModule.register'),
+  }, {
+    resolve: () => {},
+    load: () => {},
+    resolveSync: () => {},
+    loadSync: () => {},
+  }, () => calls.push('register'));
+
+  expect(mode).toBe('register');
+  expect(calls).toEqual(['register']);
+});
+
 test('should return the location of a syntax error', async ({ runInlineTest }) => {
   const result = await runInlineTest({
     'error.spec.js': `