diff --git a/packages/playwright-core/src/client/browserContext.ts b/packages/playwright-core/src/client/browserContext.ts
index a74996bbe2..9ed649e02a 100644
--- a/packages/playwright-core/src/client/browserContext.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright-core/src/client/browserContext.ts
@@ -151,6 +151,10 @@ export class BrowserContext extends ChannelOwner<channels.BrowserContextChannel>
     this.tracing._tracesDir = browserOptions.tracesDir;
   }
 
+  _isLocalBrowserOnServer(): boolean {
+    return this._initializer.isLocalBrowserOnServer;
+  }
+
   private _onPage(page: Page): void {
     this._pages.add(page);
     this.emit(Events.BrowserContext.Page, page);
diff --git a/packages/playwright-core/src/client/elementHandle.ts b/packages/playwright-core/src/client/elementHandle.ts
index 3fb3b1d5bf..794e88134f 100644
--- a/packages/playwright-core/src/client/elementHandle.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright-core/src/client/elementHandle.ts
@@ -263,31 +263,65 @@ type InputFilesList = {
   localPaths?: string[];
   streams?: channels.WritableStreamChannel[];
 };
+
+const filePayloadSizeLimit = 50 * 1024 * 1024;
+
+function filePayloadExceedsSizeLimit(payloads: FilePayload[]) {
+  return payloads.reduce((size, item) => size + (item.buffer ? item.buffer.byteLength : 0), 0) >= filePayloadSizeLimit;
+}
+
+async function filesExceedSizeLimit(files: string[]) {
+  const sizes = await Promise.all(files.map(async file => (await fs.promises.stat(file)).size));
+  return sizes.reduce((total, size) => total + size, 0) >= filePayloadSizeLimit;
+}
+
+async function readFilesIntoBuffers(items: string[]): Promise<SetInputFilesFiles> {
+  const filePayloads: SetInputFilesFiles = await Promise.all((items as string[]).map(async item => {
+    return {
+      name: path.basename(item),
+      buffer: await fs.promises.readFile(item),
+      lastModifiedMs: (await fs.promises.stat(item)).mtimeMs,
+    };
+  }));
+  return filePayloads;
+}
+
 export async function convertInputFiles(files: string | FilePayload | string[] | FilePayload[], context: BrowserContext): Promise<InputFilesList> {
   const items: (string | FilePayload)[] = Array.isArray(files) ? files.slice() : [files];
 
   if (items.some(item => typeof item === 'string')) {
     if (!items.every(item => typeof item === 'string'))
       throw new Error('File paths cannot be mixed with buffers');
+
     if (context._connection.isRemote()) {
-      const streams: channels.WritableStreamChannel[] = await Promise.all((items as string[]).map(async item => {
-        const lastModifiedMs = (await fs.promises.stat(item)).mtimeMs;
-        const { writableStream: stream } = await context._channel.createTempFile({ name: path.basename(item), lastModifiedMs });
-        const writable = WritableStream.from(stream);
-        await pipelineAsync(fs.createReadStream(item), writable.stream());
-        return stream;
-      }));
-      return { streams };
+      if (context._isLocalBrowserOnServer()) {
+        const streams: channels.WritableStreamChannel[] = await Promise.all((items as string[]).map(async item => {
+          const lastModifiedMs = (await fs.promises.stat(item)).mtimeMs;
+          const { writableStream: stream } = await context._channel.createTempFile({ name: path.basename(item), lastModifiedMs });
+          const writable = WritableStream.from(stream);
+          await pipelineAsync(fs.createReadStream(item), writable.stream());
+          return stream;
+        }));
+        return { streams };
+      }
+      if (await filesExceedSizeLimit(items as string[]))
+        throw new Error('Cannot transfer files larger than 50Mb to a browser not co-located with the server');
+      return { files: await readFilesIntoBuffers(items as string[]) };
     }
-    return { localPaths: items.map(f => path.resolve(f as string)) as string[] };
+    if (context._isLocalBrowserOnServer())
+      return { localPaths: items.map(f => path.resolve(f as string)) as string[] };
+    if (await filesExceedSizeLimit(items as string[]))
+      throw new Error('Cannot transfer files larger than 50Mb to a browser not co-located with the server');
+    return { files: await readFilesIntoBuffers(items as string[]) };
   }
 
   const payloads = items as FilePayload[];
-  const sizeLimit = 50 * 1024 * 1024;
-  const totalBufferSizeExceedsLimit = payloads.reduce((size, item) => size + (item.buffer ? item.buffer.byteLength : 0), 0) > sizeLimit;
-  if (totalBufferSizeExceedsLimit)
-    throw new Error('Cannot set buffer larger than 50Mb, please write it to a file and pass its path instead.');
-
+  if (filePayloadExceedsSizeLimit(payloads)) {
+    let error = 'Cannot set buffer larger than 50Mb';
+    if (context._isLocalBrowserOnServer())
+      error += ', please write it to a file and pass its path instead.';
+    throw new Error(error);
+  }
   return { files: payloads };
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/playwright-core/src/protocol/validator.ts b/packages/playwright-core/src/protocol/validator.ts
index 0ea38e7f80..eb1fd7dc24 100644
--- a/packages/playwright-core/src/protocol/validator.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright-core/src/protocol/validator.ts
@@ -762,6 +762,7 @@ scheme.ElectronApplicationWaitForEventInfoResult = tType('EventTargetWaitForEven
 scheme.AndroidDeviceWaitForEventInfoResult = tType('EventTargetWaitForEventInfoResult');
 scheme.BrowserContextInitializer = tObject({
   isChromium: tBoolean,
+  isLocalBrowserOnServer: tBoolean,
   requestContext: tChannel(['APIRequestContext']),
   tracing: tChannel(['Tracing']),
 });
@@ -1560,6 +1561,7 @@ scheme.FrameSetInputFilesParams = tObject({
     name: tString,
     mimeType: tOptional(tString),
     buffer: tBinary,
+    lastModifiedMs: tOptional(tNumber),
   })),
   timeout: tOptional(tNumber),
   noWaitAfter: tOptional(tBoolean),
@@ -1933,6 +1935,7 @@ scheme.ElementHandleSetInputFilesParams = tObject({
     name: tString,
     mimeType: tOptional(tString),
     buffer: tBinary,
+    lastModifiedMs: tOptional(tNumber),
   })),
   timeout: tOptional(tNumber),
   noWaitAfter: tOptional(tBoolean),
diff --git a/packages/playwright-core/src/server/browser.ts b/packages/playwright-core/src/server/browser.ts
index 0d740b1bf8..425b812b31 100644
--- a/packages/playwright-core/src/server/browser.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright-core/src/server/browser.ts
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ export abstract class Browser extends SdkObject {
   readonly _idToVideo = new Map<string, { context: BrowserContext, artifact: Artifact }>();
   private _contextForReuse: { context: BrowserContext, hash: string } | undefined;
   _closeReason: string | undefined;
+  _isCollocatedWithServer: boolean = true;
 
   constructor(parent: SdkObject, options: BrowserOptions) {
     super(parent, 'browser');
diff --git a/packages/playwright-core/src/server/chromium/chromium.ts b/packages/playwright-core/src/server/chromium/chromium.ts
index f0bf0b7376..c3988d4648 100644
--- a/packages/playwright-core/src/server/chromium/chromium.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright-core/src/server/chromium/chromium.ts
@@ -120,6 +120,7 @@ export class Chromium extends BrowserType {
     validateBrowserContextOptions(persistent, browserOptions);
     progress.throwIfAborted();
     const browser = await CRBrowser.connect(this.attribution.playwright, chromeTransport, browserOptions);
+    browser._isCollocatedWithServer = false;
     browser.on(Browser.Events.Disconnected, doCleanup);
     return browser;
   }
diff --git a/packages/playwright-core/src/server/chromium/crBrowser.ts b/packages/playwright-core/src/server/chromium/crBrowser.ts
index 498f08298d..016663707e 100644
--- a/packages/playwright-core/src/server/chromium/crBrowser.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright-core/src/server/chromium/crBrowser.ts
@@ -59,6 +59,8 @@ export class CRBrowser extends Browser {
     const connection = new CRConnection(transport, options.protocolLogger, options.browserLogsCollector);
     const browser = new CRBrowser(parent, connection, options);
     browser._devtools = devtools;
+    if (browser.isClank())
+      browser._isCollocatedWithServer = false;
     const session = connection.rootSession;
     if ((options as any).__testHookOnConnectToBrowser)
       await (options as any).__testHookOnConnectToBrowser();
diff --git a/packages/playwright-core/src/server/dispatchers/browserContextDispatcher.ts b/packages/playwright-core/src/server/dispatchers/browserContextDispatcher.ts
index 65bb47ee83..b64384b029 100644
--- a/packages/playwright-core/src/server/dispatchers/browserContextDispatcher.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright-core/src/server/dispatchers/browserContextDispatcher.ts
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ export class BrowserContextDispatcher extends Dispatcher<BrowserContext, channel
 
     super(parentScope, context, 'BrowserContext', {
       isChromium: context._browser.options.isChromium,
+      isLocalBrowserOnServer: context._browser._isCollocatedWithServer,
       requestContext,
       tracing,
     });
@@ -177,6 +178,8 @@ export class BrowserContextDispatcher extends Dispatcher<BrowserContext, channel
   }
 
   async createTempFile(params: channels.BrowserContextCreateTempFileParams): Promise<channels.BrowserContextCreateTempFileResult> {
+    if (!this._context._browser._isCollocatedWithServer)
+      throw new Error('Cannot create temp file: the browser is not co-located with the server');
     const dir = this._context._browser.options.artifactsDir;
     const tmpDir = path.join(dir, 'upload-' + createGuid());
     await fs.promises.mkdir(tmpDir);
diff --git a/packages/playwright-core/src/server/dom.ts b/packages/playwright-core/src/server/dom.ts
index ba0a54818f..a49024b046 100644
--- a/packages/playwright-core/src/server/dom.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright-core/src/server/dom.ts
@@ -597,6 +597,7 @@ export class ElementHandle<T extends Node = Node> extends js.JSHandle<T> {
           name: payload.name,
           mimeType: payload.mimeType || mime.getType(payload.name) || 'application/octet-stream',
           buffer: payload.buffer.toString('base64'),
+          lastModifiedMs: payload.lastModifiedMs
         });
       }
     }
diff --git a/packages/playwright-core/src/server/injected/injectedScript.ts b/packages/playwright-core/src/server/injected/injectedScript.ts
index 5f6fd0aae7..d19603b827 100644
--- a/packages/playwright-core/src/server/injected/injectedScript.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright-core/src/server/injected/injectedScript.ts
@@ -824,7 +824,7 @@ export class InjectedScript {
     return 'done';
   }
 
-  setInputFiles(node: Node, payloads: { name: string, mimeType: string, buffer: string }[]) {
+  setInputFiles(node: Node, payloads: { name: string, mimeType: string, buffer: string, lastModifiedMs?: number }[]) {
     if (node.nodeType !== Node.ELEMENT_NODE)
       return 'Node is not of type HTMLElement';
     const element: Element | undefined = node as Element;
@@ -837,7 +837,7 @@ export class InjectedScript {
 
     const files = payloads.map(file => {
       const bytes = Uint8Array.from(atob(file.buffer), c => c.charCodeAt(0));
-      return new File([bytes], file.name, { type: file.mimeType });
+      return new File([bytes], file.name, { type: file.mimeType, lastModified: file.lastModifiedMs });
     });
     const dt = new DataTransfer();
     for (const file of files)
diff --git a/packages/playwright-core/src/server/types.ts b/packages/playwright-core/src/server/types.ts
index 3983037626..e2ba06d50b 100644
--- a/packages/playwright-core/src/server/types.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright-core/src/server/types.ts
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@ export type FilePayload = {
   name: string,
   mimeType: string,
   buffer: string,
+  lastModifiedMs?: number,
 };
 
 export type MediaType = 'screen' | 'print' | 'no-override';
diff --git a/packages/protocol/src/channels.ts b/packages/protocol/src/channels.ts
index 8b252040d5..6fd4bd651a 100644
--- a/packages/protocol/src/channels.ts
+++ b/packages/protocol/src/channels.ts
@@ -1407,6 +1407,7 @@ export interface EventTargetEvents {
 // ----------- BrowserContext -----------
 export type BrowserContextInitializer = {
   isChromium: boolean,
+  isLocalBrowserOnServer: boolean,
   requestContext: APIRequestContextChannel,
   tracing: TracingChannel,
 };
@@ -2795,6 +2796,7 @@ export type FrameSetInputFilesParams = {
     name: string,
     mimeType?: string,
     buffer: Binary,
+    lastModifiedMs?: number,
   }[],
   timeout?: number,
   noWaitAfter?: boolean,
@@ -3425,6 +3427,7 @@ export type ElementHandleSetInputFilesParams = {
     name: string,
     mimeType?: string,
     buffer: Binary,
+    lastModifiedMs?: number,
   }[],
   timeout?: number,
   noWaitAfter?: boolean,
diff --git a/packages/protocol/src/protocol.yml b/packages/protocol/src/protocol.yml
index 0dd3c05e63..56f6652717 100644
--- a/packages/protocol/src/protocol.yml
+++ b/packages/protocol/src/protocol.yml
@@ -1012,6 +1012,7 @@ BrowserContext:
 
   initializer:
     isChromium: boolean
+    isLocalBrowserOnServer: boolean
     requestContext: APIRequestContext
     tracing: Tracing
 
@@ -2118,6 +2119,7 @@ Frame:
               name: string
               mimeType: string?
               buffer: binary
+              lastModifiedMs: number?
         timeout: number?
         noWaitAfter: boolean?
       flags:
@@ -2686,6 +2688,7 @@ ElementHandle:
               name: string
               mimeType: string?
               buffer: binary
+              lastModifiedMs: number?
         timeout: number?
         noWaitAfter: boolean?
       flags:
diff --git a/tests/library/chromium/connect-over-cdp.spec.ts b/tests/library/chromium/connect-over-cdp.spec.ts
index 24a24e8949..a5d52c5e57 100644
--- a/tests/library/chromium/connect-over-cdp.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/library/chromium/connect-over-cdp.spec.ts
@@ -470,3 +470,33 @@ test('should allow tracing over cdp session', async ({ browserType, trace }, tes
     await browserServer.close();
   }
 });
+
+test('setInputFiles should preserve lastModified timestamp', async ({ browserType, asset }) => {
+  test.info().annotations.push({ type: 'issue', description: 'https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/issues/27452' });
+
+  const port = 9339 + test.info().workerIndex;
+  const browserServer = await browserType.launch({
+    args: ['--remote-debugging-port=' + port]
+  });
+  try {
+    const cdpBrowser = await browserType.connectOverCDP({
+      endpointURL: `http://127.0.0.1:${port}/`,
+    });
+    const [context] = cdpBrowser.contexts();
+    const page = await context.newPage();
+    await page.setContent(`<input type=file multiple=true/>`);
+    const input = page.locator('input');
+    const files = ['file-to-upload.txt', 'file-to-upload-2.txt'];
+    await input.setInputFiles(files.map(f => asset(f)));
+    expect(await input.evaluate(e => [...(e as HTMLInputElement).files].map(f => f.name))).toEqual(files);
+    const timestamps = await input.evaluate(e => [...(e as HTMLInputElement).files].map(f => f.lastModified));
+    const expectedTimestamps = files.map(file => Math.round(fs.statSync(asset(file)).mtimeMs));
+    // On Linux browser sometimes reduces the timestamp by 1ms: 1696272058110.0715  -> 1696272058109 or even
+    // rounds it to seconds in WebKit: 1696272058110 -> 1696272058000.
+    for (let i = 0; i < timestamps.length; i++)
+      expect(Math.abs(timestamps[i] - expectedTimestamps[i]), `expected: ${expectedTimestamps}; actual: ${timestamps}`).toBeLessThan(1000);
+    await cdpBrowser.close();
+  } finally {
+    await browserServer.close();
+  }
+});