diff --git a/packages/playwright-core/src/server/injected/xpathSelectorEngine.ts b/packages/playwright-core/src/server/injected/xpathSelectorEngine.ts
index 7964ef4d46..74819bcda4 100644
--- a/packages/playwright-core/src/server/injected/xpathSelectorEngine.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright-core/src/server/injected/xpathSelectorEngine.ts
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ import type { SelectorEngine, SelectorRoot } from './selectorEngine';
 
 export const XPathEngine: SelectorEngine = {
   queryAll(root: SelectorRoot, selector: string): Element[] {
-    if (selector.startsWith('/'))
+    if (selector.startsWith('/') && root.nodeType !== Node.DOCUMENT_NODE)
       selector = '.' + selector;
     const result: Element[] = [];
     const document = root.ownerDocument || root;
diff --git a/tests/library/locator-generator.spec.ts b/tests/library/locator-generator.spec.ts
index de551db28f..e5b6392483 100644
--- a/tests/library/locator-generator.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/library/locator-generator.spec.ts
@@ -494,6 +494,14 @@ it('asLocator internal:chain', async () => {
   expect.soft(asLocator('csharp', 'div >> internal:chain="span >> article"', false)).toBe(`Locator("div").Locator(Locator("span").Locator("article"))`);
 });
 
+it('asLocator xpath', async () => {
+  const selector = `//*[contains(normalizer-text(), 'foo']`;
+  expect.soft(asLocator('javascript', selector, false)).toBe(`locator('xpath=//*[contains(normalizer-text(), \\'foo\\']')`);
+  expect.soft(asLocator('python', selector, false)).toBe(`locator(\"xpath=//*[contains(normalizer-text(), 'foo']\")`);
+  expect.soft(asLocator('java', selector, false)).toBe(`locator(\"xpath=//*[contains(normalizer-text(), 'foo']\")`);
+  expect.soft(asLocator('csharp', selector, false)).toBe(`Locator(\"xpath=//*[contains(normalizer-text(), 'foo']\")`);
+});
+
 it('parse locators strictly', () => {
   const selector = 'div >> internal:has-text=\"Goodbye world\"i >> span';
 
diff --git a/tests/page/selectors-misc.spec.ts b/tests/page/selectors-misc.spec.ts
index 66252fa289..384bf4aef1 100644
--- a/tests/page/selectors-misc.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/page/selectors-misc.spec.ts
@@ -318,6 +318,12 @@ it('should work with pipe in xpath', async ({ page, server }) => {
   await page.click(`//code|//span[@id="t2"]`);
 });
 
+it('should print original xpath in error', async ({ page, browserName }) => {
+  const error = await page.locator(`//*[contains(@Class, 'foo']`).isVisible().catch(e => e);
+  expect(error.message).toContain('//*[contains(@Class, \\\'foo\\\']');
+  expect(error.message).not.toContain('.//*[contains(@Class, \'foo\']');
+});
+
 it('data-testid on the handle should be relative', async ({ page }) => {
   await page.setContent(`
     <span data-testid="find-me" id=target1>1</span>