diff --git a/packages/element-web-playwright-common/src/fixtures/axe.ts b/packages/element-web-playwright-common/src/fixtures/axe.ts
index eeeb523aed..2c0c97af45 100644
--- a/packages/element-web-playwright-common/src/fixtures/axe.ts
+++ b/packages/element-web-playwright-common/src/fixtures/axe.ts
@@ -6,9 +6,12 @@ SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-only OR LicenseRef-Element-Commercial
 Please see LICENSE files in the repository root for full details.
 */
 
-import { test as base } from "@playwright/test";
 import AxeBuilder from "@axe-core/playwright";
 
+import { test as base } from "./user";
+
+// We want to avoid using `mergeTests` because it drops useful type information about the fixtures. Instead, we extend
+// the definition of `test` from `user.ts`, so that there is a linear hierarchy.
 export const test = base.extend<{
     /**
      * AxeBuilder instance for the current page
diff --git a/packages/element-web-playwright-common/src/fixtures/index.ts b/packages/element-web-playwright-common/src/fixtures/index.ts
index 04c8d120e3..58aebfa20e 100644
--- a/packages/element-web-playwright-common/src/fixtures/index.ts
+++ b/packages/element-web-playwright-common/src/fixtures/index.ts
@@ -5,11 +5,8 @@ SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-only OR LicenseRef-Element-Commercial
 Please see LICENSE files in the repository root for full details.
 */
 
-import { mergeTests } from "@playwright/test";
-
-import { test as axe } from "./axe.js";
-import { test as user } from "./user.js";
-
 export { type Services, type WorkerOptions } from "./services.js";
 
-export const test = mergeTests(axe, user);
+// We avoid using `mergeTests` because it drops useful type information about the fixtures.
+// `axe` is the top of our stack of extensions (it extends `user`, etc), so it's the one we want to use.
+export { test } from "./axe";