diff --git a/packages/playwright-core/src/utils/isomorphic/locatorGenerators.ts b/packages/playwright-core/src/utils/isomorphic/locatorGenerators.ts
index 8de433b490..3715537f1d 100644
--- a/packages/playwright-core/src/utils/isomorphic/locatorGenerators.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright-core/src/utils/isomorphic/locatorGenerators.ts
@@ -204,7 +204,14 @@ function innerAsLocators(factory: LocatorFactory, parsed: ParsedSelector, isFram
       }
     }
 
-    tokens.push([locatorPart]);
+    // Selectors can be prefixed with engine name, e.g. xpath=//foo
+    let locatorPartWithEngine: string | undefined;
+    if (['xpath', 'css'].includes(part.name)) {
+      const selectorPart = stringifySelector({ parts: [part] }, /* forceEngineName */ true);
+      locatorPartWithEngine = factory.generateLocator(base, locatorType, selectorPart);
+    }
+
+    tokens.push([locatorPart, locatorPartWithEngine].filter(Boolean) as string[]);
   }
 
   return combineTokens(factory, tokens, maxOutputSize);
diff --git a/packages/playwright-core/src/utils/isomorphic/selectorParser.ts b/packages/playwright-core/src/utils/isomorphic/selectorParser.ts
index 68fa9f2629..64ba3c0c4d 100644
--- a/packages/playwright-core/src/utils/isomorphic/selectorParser.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright-core/src/utils/isomorphic/selectorParser.ts
@@ -123,11 +123,18 @@ function selectorPartsEqual(list1: ParsedSelectorPart[], list2: ParsedSelectorPa
   return stringifySelector({ parts: list1 }) === stringifySelector({ parts: list2 });
 }
 
-export function stringifySelector(selector: string | ParsedSelector): string {
+export function stringifySelector(selector: string | ParsedSelector, forceEngineName?: boolean): string {
   if (typeof selector === 'string')
     return selector;
   return selector.parts.map((p, i) => {
-    const prefix = p.name === 'css' ? '' : p.name + '=';
+    let includeEngine = true;
+    if (!forceEngineName && i !== selector.capture) {
+      if (p.name === 'css')
+        includeEngine = false;
+      else if (p.name === 'xpath' && p.source.startsWith('//') || p.source.startsWith('..'))
+        includeEngine = false;
+    }
+    const prefix = includeEngine ? p.name + '=' : '';
     return `${i === selector.capture ? '*' : ''}${prefix}${p.source}`;
   }).join(' >> ');
 }
diff --git a/tests/library/locator-generator.spec.ts b/tests/library/locator-generator.spec.ts
index 9b77403c9e..1e8f575fcf 100644
--- a/tests/library/locator-generator.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/library/locator-generator.spec.ts
@@ -503,10 +503,20 @@ it('asLocator internal:chain', async () => {
 
 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']\")`);
+  expect.soft(asLocator('javascript', selector, false)).toBe(`locator('//*[contains(normalizer-text(), \\'foo\\']')`);
+  expect.soft(asLocator('python', selector, false)).toBe(`locator(\"//*[contains(normalizer-text(), 'foo']\")`);
+  expect.soft(asLocator('java', selector, false)).toBe(`locator(\"//*[contains(normalizer-text(), 'foo']\")`);
+  expect.soft(asLocator('csharp', selector, false)).toBe(`Locator(\"//*[contains(normalizer-text(), 'foo']\")`);
+  expect.soft(parseLocator('javascript', `locator('//*[contains(normalizer-text(), \\'foo\\']')`, 'data-testid')).toBe("//*[contains(normalizer-text(), 'foo']");
+  expect.soft(parseLocator('javascript', `locator("//*[contains(normalizer-text(), 'foo']")`, 'data-testid')).toBe("//*[contains(normalizer-text(), 'foo']");
+  expect.soft(parseLocator('javascript', `locator('xpath=//*[contains(normalizer-text(), \\'foo\\']')`, 'data-testid')).toBe("xpath=//*[contains(normalizer-text(), 'foo']");
+  expect.soft(parseLocator('javascript', `locator("xpath=//*[contains(normalizer-text(), 'foo']")`, 'data-testid')).toBe("xpath=//*[contains(normalizer-text(), 'foo']");
+  expect.soft(parseLocator('python', `locator("//*[contains(normalizer-text(), 'foo']")`, 'data-testid')).toBe("//*[contains(normalizer-text(), 'foo']");
+  expect.soft(parseLocator('python', `locator("xpath=//*[contains(normalizer-text(), 'foo']")`, 'data-testid')).toBe("xpath=//*[contains(normalizer-text(), 'foo']");
+  expect.soft(parseLocator('java', `locator("//*[contains(normalizer-text(), 'foo']")`, 'data-testid')).toBe("//*[contains(normalizer-text(), 'foo']");
+  expect.soft(parseLocator('java', `locator("xpath=//*[contains(normalizer-text(), 'foo']")`, 'data-testid')).toBe("xpath=//*[contains(normalizer-text(), 'foo']");
+  expect.soft(parseLocator('csharp', `Locator("//*[contains(normalizer-text(), 'foo']")`, 'data-testid')).toBe("//*[contains(normalizer-text(), 'foo']");
+  expect.soft(parseLocator('csharp', `Locator("xpath=//*[contains(normalizer-text(), 'foo']")`, 'data-testid')).toBe("xpath=//*[contains(normalizer-text(), 'foo']");
 });
 
 it('parseLocator quotes', async () => {
@@ -521,6 +531,17 @@ it('parseLocator quotes', async () => {
   expect.soft(parseLocator('csharp', `Locator('text="bar"')`, '')).toBe(``);
 });
 
+it('parseLocator css', async () => {
+  expect.soft(parseLocator('javascript', `locator('.foo')`, '')).toBe(`.foo`);
+  expect.soft(parseLocator('javascript', `locator('css=.foo')`, '')).toBe(`css=.foo`);
+  expect.soft(parseLocator('python', `locator(".foo")`, '')).toBe(`.foo`);
+  expect.soft(parseLocator('python', `locator("css=.foo")`, '')).toBe(`css=.foo`);
+  expect.soft(parseLocator('java', `locator(".foo")`, '')).toBe(`.foo`);
+  expect.soft(parseLocator('java', `locator("css=.foo")`, '')).toBe(`css=.foo`);
+  expect.soft(parseLocator('csharp', `Locator(".foo")`, '')).toBe(`.foo`);
+  expect.soft(parseLocator('csharp', `Locator("css=.foo")`, '')).toBe(`css=.foo`);
+});
+
 it('parse locators strictly', () => {
   const selector = 'div >> internal:has-text=\"Goodbye world\"i >> span';
 
diff --git a/tests/page/page-wait-for-selector-2.spec.ts b/tests/page/page-wait-for-selector-2.spec.ts
index f99ee7142b..eb71c784cf 100644
--- a/tests/page/page-wait-for-selector-2.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/page/page-wait-for-selector-2.spec.ts
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@ it('should respect timeout xpath', async ({ page, playwright }) => {
   await page.waitForSelector('//div', { state: 'attached', timeout: 3000 }).catch(e => error = e);
   expect(error).toBeTruthy();
   expect(error.message).toContain('page.waitForSelector: Timeout 3000ms exceeded');
-  expect(error.message).toContain('waiting for locator(\'xpath=//div\')');
+  expect(error.message).toContain('waiting for locator(\'//div\')');
   expect(error).toBeInstanceOf(playwright.errors.TimeoutError);
 });