diff --git a/tools/playwright.sh b/tools/playwright.sh
index daf361b8452..9148b01481e 100755
--- a/tools/playwright.sh
+++ b/tools/playwright.sh
@@ -3,7 +3,12 @@ set -euo pipefail
 
 # playwright only supports ubuntu/debian officially, and on CI VMs its system deps are pre-installed
 if [ -z "${GITHUB_ACTIONS:-}" ] && [ "$(uname -s)" = "Linux" ] && grep -qE '^ID(_LIKE)?=.*(ubuntu|debian)' /etc/os-release 2>/dev/null; then
-  pnpm exec playwright install --with-deps "$@"
+  if [ "$(id -u)" = 0 ] || { command -v sudo >/dev/null 2>&1 && sudo -n true >/dev/null 2>&1; }; then # Avoid Playwright's interactive su fallback.
+    pnpm exec playwright install --with-deps "$@"
+  else
+    pnpm exec playwright install "$@"
+    echo "Skipped playwright system dependencies (not root and no passwordless sudo), install them with: pnpm exec playwright install-deps" >&2
+  fi
 else
   pnpm exec playwright install "$@"
 fi