diff --git a/packages/runner/src/suite.ts b/packages/runner/src/suite.ts
index 15050880ce50..2c8fa8ecfef4 100644
--- a/packages/runner/src/suite.ts
+++ b/packages/runner/src/suite.ts
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ export function createSuiteHooks() {
 }
 
 // implementations
-function createSuiteCollector(name: string, factory: SuiteFactory = () => { }, mode: RunMode, concurrent?: boolean, shuffle?: boolean, suiteOptions?: number | TestOptions) {
+function createSuiteCollector(name: string, factory: SuiteFactory = () => { }, mode: RunMode, concurrent?: boolean, shuffle?: boolean, suiteOptions?: TestOptions) {
   const tasks: (Test | TaskCustom | Suite | SuiteCollector)[] = []
   const factoryQueue: (Test | Suite | SuiteCollector)[] = []
 
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ function createSuiteCollector(name: string, factory: SuiteFactory = () => { }, m
 
   initSuite()
 
-  const test = createTest(function (name: string, fn = noop, options = suiteOptions) {
+  const test = createTest(function (name: string, fn = noop, options) {
     const mode = this.only ? 'only' : this.skip ? 'skip' : this.todo ? 'todo' : 'run'
 
     if (typeof options === 'number')
@@ -70,7 +70,8 @@ function createSuiteCollector(name: string, factory: SuiteFactory = () => { }, m
     // inherit repeats and retry from suite
     if (typeof suiteOptions === 'object') {
       options = {
-        ...suiteOptions,
+        repeats: suiteOptions.repeats,
+        retry: suiteOptions.retry,
         ...options,
       }
     }
@@ -122,6 +123,7 @@ function createSuiteCollector(name: string, factory: SuiteFactory = () => { }, m
     type: 'collector',
     name,
     mode,
+    options: suiteOptions,
     test,
     tasks,
     collect,
@@ -186,6 +188,16 @@ function createSuite() {
   function suiteFn(this: Record<string, boolean | undefined>, name: string, factory?: SuiteFactory, options?: number | TestOptions) {
     checkVersion()
     const mode: RunMode = this.only ? 'only' : this.skip ? 'skip' : this.todo ? 'todo' : 'run'
+    const currentSuite = getCurrentSuite()
+
+    if (typeof options === 'number')
+      options = { timeout: options }
+
+    if (currentSuite && typeof currentSuite.options?.repeats === 'number') {
+      // inherit repeats from current suite
+      options = { repeats: currentSuite.options.repeats, ...options }
+    }
+
     return createSuiteCollector(name, factory, mode, this.concurrent, this.shuffle, options)
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/runner/src/types/tasks.ts b/packages/runner/src/types/tasks.ts
index 5c548d87240d..194189ba60e2 100644
--- a/packages/runner/src/types/tasks.ts
+++ b/packages/runner/src/types/tasks.ts
@@ -168,9 +168,11 @@ export interface TestOptions {
    */
   retry?: number
   /**
-   * How many times the test will repeat.
+   * How many times the test will run.
+   * Only inner tests will repeat if set on `describe()`, nested `describe()` will inherit parent's repeat by default.
+   *
+   * @default 1
    *
-   * @default 5
    */
   repeats?: number
 }
@@ -211,6 +213,7 @@ export interface SuiteHooks<ExtraContext = {}> {
 export interface SuiteCollector<ExtraContext = {}> {
   readonly name: string
   readonly mode: RunMode
+  options?: TestOptions
   type: 'collector'
   test: TestAPI<ExtraContext>
   tasks: (Suite | TaskCustom | Test | SuiteCollector<ExtraContext>)[]
diff --git a/test/core/test/repeats.test.ts b/test/core/test/repeats.test.ts
index 7542ceada924..711319440bab 100644
--- a/test/core/test/repeats.test.ts
+++ b/test/core/test/repeats.test.ts
@@ -48,3 +48,33 @@ describe('testing repeats with retry', () => {
     expect(retryNumbers).toStrictEqual(result)
   })
 })
+
+const nestedDescribeNumbers: number[] = []
+
+describe('testing nested describe', () => {
+  test ('test 1', () => {
+    nestedDescribeNumbers.push(1)
+  })
+
+  describe('nested 1', () => {
+    test('test 2', () => {
+      nestedDescribeNumbers.push(2)
+    })
+
+    describe('nested 2', () => {
+      test('test 3', () => {
+        nestedDescribeNumbers.push(3)
+      })
+
+      describe('nested 3', () => {
+        test('test 4', () => {
+          nestedDescribeNumbers.push(4)
+        })
+      }, 100)
+    }, { repeats: 3 })
+  })
+
+  afterAll(() => {
+    expect(nestedDescribeNumbers).toStrictEqual([1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4])
+  })
+}, { repeats: 2 })