diff --git a/src/Browser/PlaywrightBrowser.php b/src/Browser/PlaywrightBrowser.php
index 1526c5a..b337f1d 100644
--- a/src/Browser/PlaywrightBrowser.php
+++ b/src/Browser/PlaywrightBrowser.php
@@ -11,9 +11,11 @@
 
 namespace Zenstruck\Browser;
 
+use Playwright\Assertions\Failure\AssertionException;
 use Playwright\Console\ConsoleMessage;
 use Playwright\Page\PageInterface;
 use Playwright\Symfony\Client\PlaywrightKernelClient;
+use Playwright\Testing\Expect;
 use Symfony\Component\BrowserKit\CookieJar;
 use Symfony\Component\Filesystem\Filesystem;
 use Zenstruck\Assert;
@@ -60,6 +62,10 @@ final public function __construct(PlaywrightKernelClient $client, array $options
         $this->screenshotDir = $options['screenshot_dir'] ?? null;
         $this->consoleLogDir = $options['console_log_dir'] ?? null;
 
+        if (null !== ($timeout = $options['default_timeout'] ?? null)) {
+            $this->page()->setDefaultTimeout((int) $timeout);
+        }
+
         // subscribe before anything is navigated to, or the messages are already gone
         // @todo also collect uncaught errors once playwright-php exposes the "pageerror" event
         $this->page()->events()->onConsole(function(ConsoleMessage $message): void {
@@ -76,9 +82,15 @@ final public function __construct(PlaywrightKernelClient $client, array $options
      */
     final public function assertVisible(string $selector): self
     {
-        $element = $this->session()->assert()->elementExists('css', $selector);
+        $this->session()->assert();
 
-        Assert::true($element->isVisible(), 'Expected element "%s" to be visible but it isn\'t.', [$selector]);
+        try {
+            (new Expect($this->page()->locator($selector)))->toBeVisible();
+
+            Assert::pass();
+        } catch (AssertionException) {
+            Assert::fail('Expected element "%s" to be visible but it isn\'t.', [$selector]);
+        }
 
         return $this;
     }
@@ -88,16 +100,16 @@ final public function assertVisible(string $selector): self
      */
     final public function assertNotVisible(string $selector): self
     {
-        $element = $this->session()->page()->find('css', $selector);
+        $this->session()->assert();
 
-        if (!$element) {
-            Assert::pass();
+        try {
+            (new Expect($this->page()->locator($selector)))->toBeHidden();
 
-            return $this;
+            Assert::pass();
+        } catch (AssertionException) {
+            Assert::fail('Expected element "%s" to not be visible but it is.', [$selector]);
         }
 
-        Assert::false($element->isVisible(), 'Expected element "%s" to not be visible but it is.', [$selector]);
-
         return $this;
     }
 
diff --git a/src/Browser/Test/HasBrowser.php b/src/Browser/Test/HasBrowser.php
index b89fb33..fa5ee93 100644
--- a/src/Browser/Test/HasBrowser.php
+++ b/src/Browser/Test/HasBrowser.php
@@ -192,6 +192,7 @@ protected function playwrightBrowser(): PlaywrightBrowser
             'console_log_dir' => $_SERVER['BROWSER_CONSOLE_LOG_DIR'] ?? './var/browser/console-logs',
             'follow_redirects' => (bool) ($_SERVER['BROWSER_FOLLOW_REDIRECTS'] ?? true),
             'catch_exceptions' => (bool) ($_SERVER['BROWSER_CATCH_EXCEPTIONS'] ?? true),
+            'default_timeout' => $_SERVER['BROWSER_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT'] ?? null,
         ]);
 
         BrowserExtension::registerBrowser($browser);
diff --git a/tests/PlaywrightBrowserTest.php b/tests/PlaywrightBrowserTest.php
index 0847b52..e71e821 100644
--- a/tests/PlaywrightBrowserTest.php
+++ b/tests/PlaywrightBrowserTest.php
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 use PHPUnit\Framework\AssertionFailedError;
 use PHPUnit\Framework\Attributes\Group;
 use PHPUnit\Framework\Attributes\Test;
+use Playwright\Exception\PlaywrightException;
 use Symfony\Bundle\FrameworkBundle\Test\KernelTestCase;
 use Zenstruck\Browser\PlaywrightBrowser;
 use Zenstruck\Browser\Test\HasBrowser;
@@ -163,6 +164,51 @@ public function can_check_if_element_is_visible_and_not_visible(): void
         ;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * @test
+     */
+    #[Test]
+    public function visibility_assertions_retry_until_the_element_settles(): void
+    {
+        // #timeout-box only becomes visible 500ms after the page loads, #hide-box
+        // is hidden on click without a delay
+        $this->browser()
+            ->visit('/javascript')
+            ->assertVisible('#timeout-box')
+            ->click('hide')
+            ->assertNotVisible('#hide-box')
+        ;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @test
+     */
+    #[Test]
+    public function can_configure_the_default_timeout(): void
+    {
+        $_SERVER['BROWSER_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT'] = '250';
+
+        try {
+            $start = \hrtime(true);
+
+            try {
+                $this->browser()
+                    ->visit('/javascript')
+                    ->waitUntilVisible('#invalid-element')
+                ;
+
+                $this->fail('The wait should have timed out.');
+            } catch (PlaywrightException) {
+            }
+
+            // Playwright's own default is 30 seconds: timing out well before that
+            // proves the configured value was applied
+            $this->assertLessThan(10.0, (\hrtime(true) - $start) / 1e9);
+        } finally {
+            unset($_SERVER['BROWSER_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT']);
+        }
+    }
+
     /**
      * @test
      */