diff --git a/packages/playwright-test/src/configLoader.ts b/packages/playwright-test/src/configLoader.ts
index b7cb512a1aaf8..496f4d1718e41 100644
--- a/packages/playwright-test/src/configLoader.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright-test/src/configLoader.ts
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ import * as os from 'os';
 import * as path from 'path';
 import { isRegExp } from 'playwright-core/lib/utils';
 import type { Reporter } from '../types/testReporter';
-import type { SerializedLoaderData } from './ipc';
+import type { SerializedConfig } from './ipc';
 import type { BuiltInReporter, ConfigCLIOverrides } from './runner';
 import { builtInReporters } from './runner';
 import { requireOrImport } from './transform';
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ export class ConfigLoader {
     this._fullConfig = { ...baseFullConfig };
   }
 
-  static async deserialize(data: SerializedLoaderData): Promise<ConfigLoader> {
+  static async deserialize(data: SerializedConfig): Promise<ConfigLoader> {
     const loader = new ConfigLoader(data.configCLIOverrides);
     if (data.configFile)
       await loader.loadConfigFile(data.configFile);
@@ -182,8 +182,8 @@ export class ConfigLoader {
     return this._fullConfig;
   }
 
-  serialize(): SerializedLoaderData {
-    const result: SerializedLoaderData = {
+  serializedConfig(): SerializedConfig {
+    const result: SerializedConfig = {
       configFile: this._configFile,
       configDir: this._configDir,
       configCLIOverrides: this._configCLIOverrides,
diff --git a/packages/playwright-test/src/dispatcher.ts b/packages/playwright-test/src/dispatcher.ts
index ac04eb8d650f0..2730d04bee3a1 100644
--- a/packages/playwright-test/src/dispatcher.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright-test/src/dispatcher.ts
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-import type { TestBeginPayload, TestEndPayload, DonePayload, TestOutputPayload, StepBeginPayload, StepEndPayload, TeardownErrorsPayload, RunPayload, SerializedLoaderData } from './ipc';
+import type { TestBeginPayload, TestEndPayload, DonePayload, TestOutputPayload, StepBeginPayload, StepEndPayload, TeardownErrorsPayload, RunPayload, SerializedConfig } from './ipc';
 import type { TestResult, Reporter, TestStep, TestError } from '../types/testReporter';
 import type { Suite } from './test';
 import type { ConfigLoader } from './configLoader';
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ export class Dispatcher {
 
     // 2. Start the worker if it is down.
     if (!worker) {
-      worker = this._createWorker(job, index, this._configLoader.serialize());
+      worker = this._createWorker(job, index, this._configLoader.serializedConfig());
       this._workerSlots[index].worker = worker;
       worker.on('exit', () => this._workerSlots[index].worker = undefined);
       await worker.start();
@@ -426,7 +426,7 @@ export class Dispatcher {
     return result;
   }
 
-  _createWorker(testGroup: TestGroup, parallelIndex: number, loaderData: SerializedLoaderData) {
+  _createWorker(testGroup: TestGroup, parallelIndex: number, loaderData: SerializedConfig) {
     const worker = new WorkerHost(testGroup, parallelIndex, loaderData);
     const handleOutput = (params: TestOutputPayload) => {
       const chunk = chunkFromParams(params);
diff --git a/packages/playwright-test/src/ipc.ts b/packages/playwright-test/src/ipc.ts
index cf09c10d5d6c3..b142f9ca38f17 100644
--- a/packages/playwright-test/src/ipc.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright-test/src/ipc.ts
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 import type { ConfigCLIOverrides } from './runner';
 import type { TestInfoError, TestStatus } from './types';
 
-export type SerializedLoaderData = {
+export type SerializedConfig = {
   configFile: string | undefined;
   configDir: string;
   configCLIOverrides: ConfigCLIOverrides;
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ export type WorkerInitParams = {
   parallelIndex: number;
   repeatEachIndex: number;
   projectId: string;
-  loader: SerializedLoaderData;
+  config: SerializedConfig;
 };
 
 export type TestBeginPayload = {
diff --git a/packages/playwright-test/src/poolBuilder.ts b/packages/playwright-test/src/poolBuilder.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..f3ab69c11df4d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/playwright-test/src/poolBuilder.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+import { FixturePool, isFixtureOption } from './fixtures';
+import type { Suite, TestCase } from './test';
+import type { TestTypeImpl } from './testType';
+import type { Fixtures, FixturesWithLocation, FullProjectInternal } from './types';
+
+export class PoolBuilder {
+  private _project: FullProjectInternal;
+  private _testTypePools = new Map<TestTypeImpl, FixturePool>();
+
+  constructor(project: FullProjectInternal) {
+    this._project = project;
+  }
+
+  buildPools(suite: Suite, repeatEachIndex: number) {
+    suite.forEachTest(test => {
+      const pool = this._buildPoolForTest(test);
+      test._workerHash = `run${this._project._id}-${pool.digest}-repeat${repeatEachIndex}`;
+      test._pool = pool;
+    });
+  }
+
+  private _buildPoolForTest(test: TestCase): FixturePool {
+    let pool = this._buildTestTypePool(test._testType);
+
+    const parents: Suite[] = [];
+    for (let parent: Suite | undefined = test.parent; parent; parent = parent.parent)
+      parents.push(parent);
+    parents.reverse();
+
+    for (const parent of parents) {
+      if (parent._use.length)
+        pool = new FixturePool(parent._use, pool, parent._type === 'describe');
+      for (const hook of parent._hooks)
+        pool.validateFunction(hook.fn, hook.type + ' hook', hook.location);
+      for (const modifier of parent._modifiers)
+        pool.validateFunction(modifier.fn, modifier.type + ' modifier', modifier.location);
+    }
+
+    pool.validateFunction(test.fn, 'Test', test.location);
+    return pool;
+  }
+
+  private _buildTestTypePool(testType: TestTypeImpl): FixturePool {
+    if (!this._testTypePools.has(testType)) {
+      const fixtures = this._applyConfigUseOptions(testType, this._project.use || {});
+      const pool = new FixturePool(fixtures);
+      this._testTypePools.set(testType, pool);
+    }
+    return this._testTypePools.get(testType)!;
+  }
+
+  private _applyConfigUseOptions(testType: TestTypeImpl, configUse: Fixtures): FixturesWithLocation[] {
+    const configKeys = new Set(Object.keys(configUse));
+    if (!configKeys.size)
+      return testType.fixtures;
+    const result: FixturesWithLocation[] = [];
+    for (const f of testType.fixtures) {
+      result.push(f);
+      const optionsFromConfig: Fixtures = {};
+      for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(f.fixtures)) {
+        if (isFixtureOption(value) && configKeys.has(key))
+          (optionsFromConfig as any)[key] = [(configUse as any)[key], value[1]];
+      }
+      if (Object.entries(optionsFromConfig).length) {
+        // Add config options immediately after original option definition,
+        // so that any test.use() override it.
+        result.push({ fixtures: optionsFromConfig, location: { file: `project#${this._project._id}`, line: 1, column: 1 }, fromConfig: true });
+      }
+    }
+    return result;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/packages/playwright-test/src/runner.ts b/packages/playwright-test/src/runner.ts
index c5e061225838a..dbf17d28da8c2 100644
--- a/packages/playwright-test/src/runner.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright-test/src/runner.ts
@@ -46,6 +46,8 @@ import { createFileMatcher, createFileMatcherFromFilters, createTitleMatcher, se
 import type { Matcher, TestFileFilter } from './util';
 import { setFatalErrorSink } from './globals';
 import { TestLoader } from './testLoader';
+import { buildFileSuiteForProject, filterTests } from './suiteUtils';
+import { PoolBuilder } from './poolBuilder';
 
 const removeFolderAsync = promisify(rimraf);
 const readDirAsync = promisify(fs.readdir);
@@ -319,6 +321,7 @@ export class Runner {
 
     const rootSuite = new Suite('', 'root');
     for (const [project, files] of filesByProject) {
+      const poolBuilder = new PoolBuilder(project);
       const grepMatcher = createTitleMatcher(project.grep);
       const grepInvertMatcher = project.grepInvert ? createTitleMatcher(project.grepInvert) : null;
 
@@ -339,9 +342,11 @@ export class Runner {
         if (!fileSuite)
           continue;
         for (let repeatEachIndex = 0; repeatEachIndex < project.repeatEach; repeatEachIndex++) {
-          const builtSuite = testLoader.buildFileSuiteForProject(project, fileSuite, repeatEachIndex, titleMatcher);
-          if (builtSuite)
-            projectSuite._addSuite(builtSuite);
+          const builtSuite = buildFileSuiteForProject(project, fileSuite, repeatEachIndex);
+          if (!filterTests(builtSuite, titleMatcher))
+            continue;
+          projectSuite._addSuite(builtSuite);
+          poolBuilder.buildPools(builtSuite, repeatEachIndex);
         }
       }
     }
diff --git a/packages/playwright-test/src/suiteUtils.ts b/packages/playwright-test/src/suiteUtils.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..9ac2ec62a732c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/playwright-test/src/suiteUtils.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+/**
+* Copyright Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
+*
+* Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+* you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+* You may obtain a copy of the License at
+*
+*     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+*
+* Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+* distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+* WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+* See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+* limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+import path from 'path';
+import { calculateSha1 } from 'playwright-core/lib/utils';
+import type { Suite, TestCase } from './test';
+import type { FullProjectInternal } from './types';
+
+export function filterTests(suite: Suite, filter: (test: TestCase) => boolean): boolean {
+  suite.suites = suite.suites.filter(child => filterTests(child, filter));
+  suite.tests = suite.tests.filter(filter);
+  const entries = new Set([...suite.suites, ...suite.tests]);
+  suite._entries = suite._entries.filter(e => entries.has(e)); // Preserve the order.
+  return !!suite._entries.length;
+}
+
+export function buildFileSuiteForProject(project: FullProjectInternal, suite: Suite, repeatEachIndex: number): Suite {
+  const relativeFile = path.relative(project.testDir, suite.location!.file).split(path.sep).join('/');
+  const fileId = calculateSha1(relativeFile).slice(0, 20);
+
+  // Clone suite.
+  const result = suite._deepClone();
+  result._fileId = fileId;
+
+  // Assign test properties with project-specific values.
+  result.forEachTest((test, suite) => {
+    suite._fileId = fileId;
+    const repeatEachIndexSuffix = repeatEachIndex ? ` (repeat:${repeatEachIndex})` : '';
+    // At the point of the query, suite is not yet attached to the project, so we only get file, describe and test titles.
+    const testIdExpression = `[project=${project._id}]${test.titlePath().join('\x1e')}${repeatEachIndexSuffix}`;
+    const testId = fileId + '-' + calculateSha1(testIdExpression).slice(0, 20);
+    test.id = testId;
+    test.repeatEachIndex = repeatEachIndex;
+    test._projectId = project._id;
+    test.retries = project.retries;
+    for (let parentSuite: Suite | undefined = suite; parentSuite; parentSuite = parentSuite.parent) {
+      if (parentSuite._retries !== undefined) {
+        test.retries = parentSuite._retries;
+        break;
+      }
+    }
+  });
+
+  return result;
+}
diff --git a/packages/playwright-test/src/test.ts b/packages/playwright-test/src/test.ts
index 731c6569399eb..442272c9edaa5 100644
--- a/packages/playwright-test/src/test.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright-test/src/test.ts
@@ -115,6 +115,15 @@ export class Suite extends Base implements reporterTypes.Suite {
     return suite;
   }
 
+  forEachTest(visitor: (test: TestCase, suite: Suite) => void) {
+    for (const entry of this._entries) {
+      if (entry instanceof Suite)
+        entry.forEachTest(visitor);
+      else
+        visitor(entry, this);
+    }
+  }
+
   _clone(): Suite {
     const suite = new Suite(this.title, this._type);
     suite._only = this._only;
diff --git a/packages/playwright-test/src/testLoader.ts b/packages/playwright-test/src/testLoader.ts
index 139a699c1e37a..a8ac9683f57a1 100644
--- a/packages/playwright-test/src/testLoader.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright-test/src/testLoader.ts
@@ -15,13 +15,10 @@
  */
 
 import * as path from 'path';
-import { calculateSha1 } from 'playwright-core/lib/utils';
-import { FixturePool, isFixtureOption } from './fixtures';
 import { setCurrentlyLoadingFileSuite } from './globals';
-import { Suite, type TestCase } from './test';
-import type { TestTypeImpl } from './testType';
+import { Suite } from './test';
 import { requireOrImport } from './transform';
-import type { Fixtures, FixturesWithLocation, FullConfigInternal, FullProjectInternal } from './types';
+import type { FullConfigInternal } from './types';
 import { serializeError } from './util';
 
 export const defaultTimeout = 30000;
@@ -31,14 +28,13 @@ export const defaultTimeout = 30000;
 const cachedFileSuites = new Map<string, Suite>();
 
 export class TestLoader {
-  private _projectSuiteBuilders = new Map<FullProjectInternal, ProjectSuiteBuilder>();
   private _fullConfig: FullConfigInternal;
 
   constructor(fullConfig: FullConfigInternal) {
     this._fullConfig = fullConfig;
   }
 
-  async loadTestFile(file: string, environment: 'runner' | 'worker') {
+  async loadTestFile(file: string, environment: 'runner' | 'worker'): Promise<Suite> {
     if (cachedFileSuites.has(file))
       return cachedFileSuites.get(file)!;
     const suite = new Suite(path.relative(this._fullConfig.rootDir, file) || path.basename(file), 'file');
@@ -79,126 +75,4 @@ export class TestLoader {
 
     return suite;
   }
-
-  buildFileSuiteForProject(project: FullProjectInternal, suite: Suite, repeatEachIndex: number, filter: (test: TestCase) => boolean): Suite | undefined {
-    if (!this._projectSuiteBuilders.has(project))
-      this._projectSuiteBuilders.set(project, new ProjectSuiteBuilder(project));
-    const builder = this._projectSuiteBuilders.get(project)!;
-    return builder.cloneFileSuite(suite, repeatEachIndex, filter);
-  }
-}
-
-class ProjectSuiteBuilder {
-  private _project: FullProjectInternal;
-  private _testTypePools = new Map<TestTypeImpl, FixturePool>();
-  private _testPools = new Map<TestCase, FixturePool>();
-
-  constructor(project: FullProjectInternal) {
-    this._project = project;
-  }
-
-  private _buildTestTypePool(testType: TestTypeImpl): FixturePool {
-    if (!this._testTypePools.has(testType)) {
-      const fixtures = this._applyConfigUseOptions(testType, this._project.use || {});
-      const pool = new FixturePool(fixtures);
-      this._testTypePools.set(testType, pool);
-    }
-    return this._testTypePools.get(testType)!;
-  }
-
-  // TODO: we can optimize this function by building the pool inline in cloneSuite
-  private _buildPool(test: TestCase): FixturePool {
-    if (!this._testPools.has(test)) {
-      let pool = this._buildTestTypePool(test._testType);
-
-      const parents: Suite[] = [];
-      for (let parent: Suite | undefined = test.parent; parent; parent = parent.parent)
-        parents.push(parent);
-      parents.reverse();
-
-      for (const parent of parents) {
-        if (parent._use.length)
-          pool = new FixturePool(parent._use, pool, parent._type === 'describe');
-        for (const hook of parent._hooks)
-          pool.validateFunction(hook.fn, hook.type + ' hook', hook.location);
-        for (const modifier of parent._modifiers)
-          pool.validateFunction(modifier.fn, modifier.type + ' modifier', modifier.location);
-      }
-
-      pool.validateFunction(test.fn, 'Test', test.location);
-      this._testPools.set(test, pool);
-    }
-    return this._testPools.get(test)!;
-  }
-
-  private _cloneEntries(from: Suite, to: Suite, repeatEachIndex: number, filter: (test: TestCase) => boolean): boolean {
-    for (const entry of from._entries) {
-      if (entry instanceof Suite) {
-        const suite = entry._clone();
-        suite._fileId = to._fileId;
-        to._addSuite(suite);
-        // Ignore empty titles, similar to Suite.titlePath().
-        if (!this._cloneEntries(entry, suite, repeatEachIndex, filter)) {
-          to._entries.pop();
-          to.suites.pop();
-        }
-      } else {
-        const test = entry._clone();
-        to._addTest(test);
-        test.retries = this._project.retries;
-        for (let parentSuite: Suite | undefined = to; parentSuite; parentSuite = parentSuite.parent) {
-          if (parentSuite._retries !== undefined) {
-            test.retries = parentSuite._retries;
-            break;
-          }
-        }
-        const repeatEachIndexSuffix = repeatEachIndex ? ` (repeat:${repeatEachIndex})` : '';
-        // At the point of the query, suite is not yet attached to the project, so we only get file, describe and test titles.
-        const testIdExpression = `[project=${this._project._id}]${test.titlePath().join('\x1e')}${repeatEachIndexSuffix}`;
-        const testId = to._fileId + '-' + calculateSha1(testIdExpression).slice(0, 20);
-        test.id = testId;
-        test.repeatEachIndex = repeatEachIndex;
-        test._projectId = this._project._id;
-        if (!filter(test)) {
-          to._entries.pop();
-          to.tests.pop();
-        } else {
-          const pool = this._buildPool(entry);
-          test._workerHash = `run${this._project._id}-${pool.digest}-repeat${repeatEachIndex}`;
-          test._pool = pool;
-        }
-      }
-    }
-    if (!to._entries.length)
-      return false;
-    return true;
-  }
-
-  cloneFileSuite(suite: Suite, repeatEachIndex: number, filter: (test: TestCase) => boolean): Suite | undefined {
-    const result = suite._clone();
-    const relativeFile = path.relative(this._project.testDir, suite.location!.file).split(path.sep).join('/');
-    result._fileId = calculateSha1(relativeFile).slice(0, 20);
-    return this._cloneEntries(suite, result, repeatEachIndex, filter) ? result : undefined;
-  }
-
-  private _applyConfigUseOptions(testType: TestTypeImpl, configUse: Fixtures): FixturesWithLocation[] {
-    const configKeys = new Set(Object.keys(configUse));
-    if (!configKeys.size)
-      return testType.fixtures;
-    const result: FixturesWithLocation[] = [];
-    for (const f of testType.fixtures) {
-      result.push(f);
-      const optionsFromConfig: Fixtures = {};
-      for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(f.fixtures)) {
-        if (isFixtureOption(value) && configKeys.has(key))
-          (optionsFromConfig as any)[key] = [(configUse as any)[key], value[1]];
-      }
-      if (Object.entries(optionsFromConfig).length) {
-        // Add config options immediately after original option definition,
-        // so that any test.use() override it.
-        result.push({ fixtures: optionsFromConfig, location: { file: `project#${this._project._id}`, line: 1, column: 1 }, fromConfig: true });
-      }
-    }
-    return result;
-  }
 }
diff --git a/packages/playwright-test/src/workerHost.ts b/packages/playwright-test/src/workerHost.ts
index ccc8756726411..24ba0cbd022ac 100644
--- a/packages/playwright-test/src/workerHost.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright-test/src/workerHost.ts
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
  */
 
 import type { TestGroup } from './dispatcher';
-import type { RunPayload, SerializedLoaderData, WorkerInitParams } from './ipc';
+import type { RunPayload, SerializedConfig, WorkerInitParams } from './ipc';
 import { ProcessHost } from './processHost';
 
 let lastWorkerIndex = 0;
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ export class WorkerHost extends ProcessHost<WorkerInitParams> {
   currentTestId: string | null = null;
   private _params: WorkerInitParams;
 
-  constructor(testGroup: TestGroup, parallelIndex: number, loader: SerializedLoaderData) {
+  constructor(testGroup: TestGroup, parallelIndex: number, config: SerializedConfig) {
     const workerIndex = lastWorkerIndex++;
     super(require.resolve('./workerRunner.js'), `worker-${workerIndex}`);
     this.workerIndex = workerIndex;
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ export class WorkerHost extends ProcessHost<WorkerInitParams> {
       parallelIndex,
       repeatEachIndex: testGroup.repeatEachIndex,
       projectId: testGroup.projectId,
-      loader,
+      config,
     };
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/playwright-test/src/workerRunner.ts b/packages/playwright-test/src/workerRunner.ts
index ec6ef140f33df..2e29b2eea8a1a 100644
--- a/packages/playwright-test/src/workerRunner.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright-test/src/workerRunner.ts
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ import type { TimeSlot } from './timeoutManager';
 import { TimeoutManager } from './timeoutManager';
 import { ProcessRunner } from './process';
 import { TestLoader } from './testLoader';
+import { buildFileSuiteForProject, filterTests } from './suiteUtils';
+import { PoolBuilder } from './poolBuilder';
 
 const removeFolderAsync = util.promisify(rimraf);
 
@@ -37,6 +39,7 @@ export class WorkerRunner extends ProcessRunner {
   private _configLoader!: ConfigLoader;
   private _testLoader!: TestLoader;
   private _project!: FullProjectInternal;
+  private _poolBuilder!: PoolBuilder;
   private _fixtureRunner: FixtureRunner;
 
   // Accumulated fatal errors that cannot be attributed to a test.
@@ -169,9 +172,10 @@ export class WorkerRunner extends ProcessRunner {
     if (this._configLoader)
       return;
 
-    this._configLoader = await ConfigLoader.deserialize(this._params.loader);
+    this._configLoader = await ConfigLoader.deserialize(this._params.config);
     this._testLoader = new TestLoader(this._configLoader.fullConfig());
     this._project = this._configLoader.fullConfig().projects.find(p => p._id === this._params.projectId)!;
+    this._poolBuilder = new PoolBuilder(this._project);
   }
 
   async runTestGroup(runPayload: RunPayload) {
@@ -181,12 +185,10 @@ export class WorkerRunner extends ProcessRunner {
     try {
       await this._loadIfNeeded();
       const fileSuite = await this._testLoader.loadTestFile(runPayload.file, 'worker');
-      const suite = this._testLoader.buildFileSuiteForProject(this._project, fileSuite, this._params.repeatEachIndex, test => {
-        if (!entries.has(test.id))
-          return false;
-        return true;
-      });
-      if (suite) {
+      const suite = buildFileSuiteForProject(this._project, fileSuite, this._params.repeatEachIndex);
+      const hasEntries = filterTests(suite, test => entries.has(test.id));
+      if (hasEntries) {
+        this._poolBuilder.buildPools(suite, this._params.repeatEachIndex);
         this._extraSuiteAnnotations = new Map();
         this._activeSuites = new Set();
         this._didRunFullCleanup = false;