diff --git a/packages/playwright-core/src/server/injected/injectedScript.ts b/packages/playwright-core/src/server/injected/injectedScript.ts
index fd2c91f6e6..85d6ffd131 100644
--- a/packages/playwright-core/src/server/injected/injectedScript.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright-core/src/server/injected/injectedScript.ts
@@ -78,7 +78,6 @@ export class InjectedScript {
   readonly isUnderTest: boolean;
   private _sdkLanguage: Language;
   private _testIdAttributeNameForStrictErrorAndConsoleCodegen: string = 'data-testid';
-  private _markedTargetElements = new Set<Element>();
   // eslint-disable-next-line no-restricted-globals
   readonly window: Window & typeof globalThis;
   readonly document: Document;
@@ -1018,7 +1017,7 @@ export class InjectedScript {
     const attrs = [];
     for (let i = 0; i < element.attributes.length; i++) {
       const { name, value } = element.attributes[i];
-      if (name === 'style' || name.startsWith('__playwright'))
+      if (name === 'style')
         continue;
       if (!value && booleanAttributes.has(name))
         attrs.push(` ${name}`);
@@ -1096,15 +1095,14 @@ export class InjectedScript {
   }
 
   markTargetElements(markedElements: Set<Element>, callId: string) {
-    for (const e of this._markedTargetElements) {
-      if (!markedElements.has(e))
-        e.removeAttribute('__playwright_target__');
-    }
-    for (const e of markedElements) {
-      if (!this._markedTargetElements.has(e))
-        e.setAttribute('__playwright_target__', callId);
-    }
-    this._markedTargetElements = markedElements;
+    const customEvent = new CustomEvent('__playwright_target__', {
+      bubbles: true,
+      cancelable: true,
+      detail: callId,
+      composed: false,
+    });
+    for (const element of markedElements)
+      element.dispatchEvent(customEvent);
   }
 
   private _setupGlobalListenersRemovalDetection() {
diff --git a/packages/playwright-core/src/server/trace/recorder/snapshotter.ts b/packages/playwright-core/src/server/trace/recorder/snapshotter.ts
index 27e2165739..2db04b1278 100644
--- a/packages/playwright-core/src/server/trace/recorder/snapshotter.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright-core/src/server/trace/recorder/snapshotter.ts
@@ -110,7 +110,13 @@ export class Snapshotter {
 
     // In a best-effort manner, without waiting for it, mark target element.
     element?.callFunctionNoReply((element: Element, callId: string) => {
-      element.setAttribute('__playwright_target__', callId);
+      const customEvent = new CustomEvent('__playwright_target__', {
+        bubbles: true,
+        cancelable: true,
+        detail: callId,
+        composed: false,
+      });
+      element.dispatchEvent(customEvent);
     }, callId);
 
     // In each frame, in a non-stalling manner, capture the snapshots.
diff --git a/packages/playwright-core/src/server/trace/recorder/snapshotterInjected.ts b/packages/playwright-core/src/server/trace/recorder/snapshotterInjected.ts
index be6dea15a6..ce64da0775 100644
--- a/packages/playwright-core/src/server/trace/recorder/snapshotterInjected.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright-core/src/server/trace/recorder/snapshotterInjected.ts
@@ -102,6 +102,42 @@ export function frameSnapshotStreamer(snapshotStreamer: string) {
       this._observer = new MutationObserver(list => this._handleMutations(list));
       const observerConfig = { attributes: true, subtree: true };
       this._observer.observe(document, observerConfig);
+      this._refreshListenersWhenNeeded();
+    }
+
+    private _refreshListenersWhenNeeded() {
+      this._refreshListeners();
+
+      const customEventName = '__playwright_snapshotter_global_listeners_check__';
+
+      let seenEvent = false;
+      const handleCustomEvent = () => seenEvent = true;
+      window.addEventListener(customEventName, handleCustomEvent);
+
+      const observer = new MutationObserver(entries => {
+        // Check for new documentElement in case we need to reinstall document listeners.
+        const newDocumentElement = entries.some(entry => Array.from(entry.addedNodes).includes(document.documentElement));
+        if (newDocumentElement) {
+          // New documentElement - let's check whether listeners are still here.
+          seenEvent = false;
+          window.dispatchEvent(new CustomEvent(customEventName));
+          if (!seenEvent) {
+            // Listener did not fire. Reattach the listener and notify.
+            window.addEventListener(customEventName, handleCustomEvent);
+            this._refreshListeners();
+          }
+        }
+      });
+      observer.observe(document, { childList: true });
+    }
+
+    private _refreshListeners() {
+      (document as any).addEventListener('__playwright_target__', (event: CustomEvent) => {
+        if (!event.detail)
+          return;
+        const callId = event.detail as string;
+        (event.target as any).__playwright_target__ = callId;
+      });
     }
 
     private _interceptNativeMethod(obj: any, method: string, cb: (thisObj: any, result: any) => void) {
@@ -283,7 +319,7 @@ export function frameSnapshotStreamer(snapshotStreamer: string) {
       // TODO: remove after chromium is fixed?
       const elementsToRestoreScrollPosition = new Set<Node>();
       const findElementsToRestoreScrollPositionRecursively = (element: Element) => {
-        let shouldAdd = element.hasAttribute(kTargetAttribute);
+        let shouldAdd = '__playwright_target__' in element;
         for (let child = element.firstElementChild; child; child = child.nextElementSibling)
           shouldAdd = shouldAdd || findElementsToRestoreScrollPositionRecursively(child);
         if (element.shadowRoot) {
@@ -423,6 +459,11 @@ export function frameSnapshotStreamer(snapshotStreamer: string) {
             visitChild(element.shadowRoot);
             --shadowDomNesting;
           }
+          if ('__playwright_target__' in element) {
+            expectValue(kTargetAttribute);
+            expectValue(element['__playwright_target__']);
+            attrs[kTargetAttribute] = element['__playwright_target__'] as string;
+          }
         }
 
         if (nodeName === 'HEAD') {
diff --git a/tests/library/inspector/cli-codegen-1.spec.ts b/tests/library/inspector/cli-codegen-1.spec.ts
index c85ff66e0f..4a8ff8c331 100644
--- a/tests/library/inspector/cli-codegen-1.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/library/inspector/cli-codegen-1.spec.ts
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ test.describe('cli codegen', () => {
     expect(locator).toBe(`getByText('Some long text here')`);
 
     const divContents = await page.$eval('div', div => div.outerHTML);
-    expect(divContents.replace(/\s__playwright_target__="[^"]+"/, '')).toBe(`<div onclick="console.log('click')"> Some long text here </div>`);
+    expect(divContents).toBe(`<div onclick="console.log('click')"> Some long text here </div>`);
 
     const [message, sources] = await Promise.all([
       page.waitForEvent('console', msg => msg.type() !== 'error'),
diff --git a/tests/page/locator-query.spec.ts b/tests/page/locator-query.spec.ts
index 55f7ae0e48..ebc3f569c4 100644
--- a/tests/page/locator-query.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/page/locator-query.spec.ts
@@ -115,15 +115,15 @@ it('should support has:locator', async ({ page, trace }) => {
   await expect(page.locator(`div`, {
     has: page.locator(`text=world`)
   })).toHaveCount(1);
-  expect(removeHighlight(await page.locator(`div`, {
+  expect(await page.locator(`div`, {
     has: page.locator(`text=world`)
-  }).evaluate(e => e.outerHTML))).toBe(`<div><span>world</span></div>`);
+  }).evaluate(e => e.outerHTML)).toBe(`<div><span>world</span></div>`);
   await expect(page.locator(`div`, {
     has: page.locator(`text="hello"`)
   })).toHaveCount(1);
-  expect(removeHighlight(await page.locator(`div`, {
+  expect(await page.locator(`div`, {
     has: page.locator(`text="hello"`)
-  }).evaluate(e => e.outerHTML))).toBe(`<div><span>hello</span></div>`);
+  }).evaluate(e => e.outerHTML)).toBe(`<div><span>hello</span></div>`);
   await expect(page.locator(`div`, {
     has: page.locator(`xpath=./span`)
   })).toHaveCount(2);
@@ -133,9 +133,9 @@ it('should support has:locator', async ({ page, trace }) => {
   await expect(page.locator(`div`, {
     has: page.locator(`span`, { hasText: 'wor' })
   })).toHaveCount(1);
-  expect(removeHighlight(await page.locator(`div`, {
+  expect(await page.locator(`div`, {
     has: page.locator(`span`, { hasText: 'wor' })
-  }).evaluate(e => e.outerHTML))).toBe(`<div><span>world</span></div>`);
+  }).evaluate(e => e.outerHTML)).toBe(`<div><span>world</span></div>`);
   await expect(page.locator(`div`, {
     has: page.locator(`span`),
     hasText: 'wor',
@@ -205,7 +205,3 @@ it('alias methods coverage', async ({ page }) => {
   await expect(page.locator('div').getByRole('button')).toHaveCount(1);
   await expect(page.mainFrame().locator('button')).toHaveCount(1);
 });
-
-function removeHighlight(markup: string) {
-  return markup.replace(/\s__playwright_target__="[^"]+"/, '');
-}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/page/selectors-css.spec.ts b/tests/page/selectors-css.spec.ts
index 8f40f497f6..be03ac1e7a 100644
--- a/tests/page/selectors-css.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/page/selectors-css.spec.ts
@@ -405,7 +405,7 @@ it('should absolutize relative selectors', async ({ page, server }) => {
   await page.setContent(`<div><span>Hi</span></div>`);
   expect(await page.$eval('div >> >span', e => e.textContent)).toBe('Hi');
   expect(await page.locator('div').locator('>span').textContent()).toBe('Hi');
-  expect((await page.$eval('div:has(> span)', e => e.outerHTML)).replace(/\s__playwright_target__="[^"]+"/, '')).toBe('<div><span>Hi</span></div>');
+  expect(await page.$eval('div:has(> span)', e => e.outerHTML)).toBe('<div><span>Hi</span></div>');
   expect(await page.$('div:has(> div)')).toBe(null);
 });