diff --git a/packages/playwright-core/src/client/locator.ts b/packages/playwright-core/src/client/locator.ts
index f4d31580bb..a35276bcac 100644
--- a/packages/playwright-core/src/client/locator.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright-core/src/client/locator.ts
@@ -36,14 +36,18 @@ export class Locator implements api.Locator {
   private async _withElement<R>(task: (handle: ElementHandle<SVGElement | HTMLElement>, timeout?: number) => Promise<R>, timeout?: number): Promise<R> {
     timeout = this._frame.page()._timeoutSettings.timeout({ timeout });
     const deadline = timeout ? monotonicTime() + timeout : 0;
-    const handle = await this.elementHandle({ timeout });
-    if (!handle)
-      throw new Error(`Could not resolve ${this._selector} to DOM Element`);
-    try {
-      return await task(handle, deadline ? deadline - monotonicTime() : 0);
-    } finally {
-      await handle.dispose();
-    }
+
+    return this._frame._wrapApiCall<R>(async (channel: channels.FrameChannel) => {
+      const result = await channel.waitForSelector({ selector: this._selector, strict: true, state: 'attached', timeout });
+      const handle = ElementHandle.fromNullable(result.element) as ElementHandle<SVGElement | HTMLElement> | null;
+      if (!handle)
+        throw new Error(`Could not resolve ${this._selector} to DOM Element`);
+      try {
+        return await task(handle, deadline ? deadline - monotonicTime() : 0);
+      } finally {
+        await handle.dispose();
+      }
+    });
   }
 
   async boundingBox(options?: TimeoutOptions): Promise<Rect | null> {
diff --git a/tests/playwright-test/reporter.spec.ts b/tests/playwright-test/reporter.spec.ts
index 8529a083fa..932aa324e6 100644
--- a/tests/playwright-test/reporter.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/playwright-test/reporter.spec.ts
@@ -368,6 +368,43 @@ test('should not have internal error when steps are finished after timeout', asy
   expect(result.output).not.toContain('Internal error');
 });
 
+test('should show nice stacks for locators', async ({ runInlineTest }) => {
+  const result = await runInlineTest({
+    'reporter.ts': stepsReporterJS,
+    'playwright.config.ts': `
+      module.exports = {
+        reporter: './reporter',
+      };
+    `,
+    'a.test.ts': `
+      const { test } = pwt;
+      test('pass', async ({ page }) => {
+        await page.setContent('<button></button>');
+        const locator = page.locator('button');
+        await locator.evaluate(e => e.innerText);
+      });
+    `
+  }, { reporter: '', workers: 1 });
+
+  expect(result.exitCode).toBe(0);
+  expect(result.passed).toBe(0);
+  expect(result.output).not.toContain('Internal error');
+  expect(result.output.split('\n').filter(line => line.startsWith('%%')).map(stripEscapedAscii)).toEqual([
+    `%% begin {"title":"Before Hooks","category":"hook"}`,
+    `%% begin {"title":"browserContext.newPage","category":"pw:api"}`,
+    `%% end {"title":"browserContext.newPage","category":"pw:api"}`,
+    `%% end {"title":"Before Hooks","category":"hook","steps":[{"title":"browserContext.newPage","category":"pw:api"}]}`,
+    `%% begin {"title":"page.setContent","category":"pw:api"}`,
+    `%% end {"title":"page.setContent","category":"pw:api"}`,
+    `%% begin {"title":"locator.evaluate(button)","category":"pw:api"}`,
+    `%% end {"title":"locator.evaluate(button)","category":"pw:api"}`,
+    `%% begin {"title":"After Hooks","category":"hook"}`,
+    `%% begin {"title":"browserContext.close","category":"pw:api"}`,
+    `%% end {"title":"browserContext.close","category":"pw:api"}`,
+    `%% end {"title":"After Hooks","category":"hook","steps":[{"title":"browserContext.close","category":"pw:api"}]}`,
+  ]);
+});
+
 function stripEscapedAscii(str: string) {
   return str.replace(/\\u00[a-z0-9][a-z0-9]\[[^m]+m/g, '');
 }