diff --git a/packages/playwright-crawler/src/internals/utils/playwright-utils.ts b/packages/playwright-crawler/src/internals/utils/playwright-utils.ts
index c7295524b6b2..5fdb3bb89c81 100644
--- a/packages/playwright-crawler/src/internals/utils/playwright-utils.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright-crawler/src/internals/utils/playwright-utils.ts
@@ -755,9 +755,9 @@ async function handleCloudflareChallenge(
 
     options.isChallengeCallback ??= async () => {
         return await page.evaluate(async () => {
-            // Cloudflare nests the ray ID under varying wrapper elements, so we match by descendants
-            // instead of a direct-child chain (e.g. a `.footer-wrapper` was inserted in between).
-            return !!document.querySelector('.footer .footer-inner .diagnostic-wrapper .ray-id');
+            // Cloudflare keeps reshuffling the wrapper elements between `.footer-inner` and `.ray-id`,
+            // so only the stable outer classes are matched.
+            return !!document.querySelector('.footer .footer-inner .ray-id');
         });
     };
 
diff --git a/test/core/playwright_utils.test.ts b/test/core/playwright_utils.test.ts
index b765e5462739..83ab2a8a5e55 100644
--- a/test/core/playwright_utils.test.ts
+++ b/test/core/playwright_utils.test.ts
@@ -433,4 +433,70 @@ describe('playwrightUtils', () => {
             await browser.close();
         }
     });
+
+    describe('handleCloudflareChallenge() challenge detection', () => {
+        // not a named export, only reachable via the internal `playwrightUtils` object
+        const { handleCloudflareChallenge } = playwrightUtils.playwrightUtils;
+        let browser: Browser;
+        let page: Page;
+
+        // no clicking or waiting, so an unsolved challenge fails fast instead of spending ~20s in the click loop
+        const fastOptions = () => ({
+            sleepSecs: 0,
+            preChallengeSleepSecs: 0,
+            clickCallback: async () => {},
+        });
+
+        // markup as rendered by the current (2026) Cloudflare challenge template
+        const currentChallengeBody = `
+            <div class="main-wrapper" role="main"><div class="main-content">
+                <h1>example.com</h1>
+                <h2>Performing security verification</h2>
+                <div style="display: grid;"><div><div><input type="hidden" name="cf-turnstile-response" id="cf-chl-widget-2swmi_response"></div></div></div>
+            </div></div>
+            <div class="footer" role="contentinfo"><div class="footer-inner"><div class="footer-wrapper">
+                <div><div class="ray-id">Ray ID: <code>a29d9a9cff4fb9e4</code></div></div>
+                <div class="footer-link-wrapper"><span class="footer-text">Performance and Security by Cloudflare</span></div>
+            </div></div></div>`;
+
+        // the older template, with the `.diagnostic-wrapper` element
+        const oldChallengeBody = `
+            <div class="main-wrapper" role="main"><div class="main-content">
+                <h1>example.com</h1>
+                <div><input type="hidden" name="cf-turnstile-response" id="cf-chl-widget-2swmi_response"></div>
+            </div></div>
+            <div class="footer" role="contentinfo"><div class="footer-inner"><div class="footer-wrapper"><div class="diagnostic-wrapper">
+                <div class="ray-id">Ray ID: <code>a29d9a9cff4fb9e4</code></div>
+            </div></div></div></div>`;
+
+        beforeAll(async () => {
+            browser = await chromium.launch({ headless: true });
+            page = await browser.newPage();
+        });
+
+        afterAll(async () => {
+            await browser.close();
+        });
+
+        test('detects the current challenge markup', async () => {
+            await page.setContent(`<html><body>${currentChallengeBody}</body></html>`);
+            await expect(
+                handleCloudflareChallenge(page, 'https://example.com', undefined, fastOptions()),
+            ).rejects.toThrow(/Blocked by Cloudflare/);
+        });
+
+        test('detects the old challenge markup', async () => {
+            await page.setContent(`<html><body>${oldChallengeBody}</body></html>`);
+            await expect(
+                handleCloudflareChallenge(page, 'https://example.com', undefined, fastOptions()),
+            ).rejects.toThrow(/Blocked by Cloudflare/);
+        });
+
+        test('resolves without detection on a regular page', async () => {
+            await page.setContent('<html><body><h1>Welcome</h1></body></html>');
+            await expect(
+                handleCloudflareChallenge(page, 'https://example.com', undefined, fastOptions()),
+            ).resolves.toBeUndefined();
+        });
+    });
 });
diff --git a/test/e2e/camoufox-cloudflare/actor/main.js b/test/e2e/camoufox-cloudflare/actor/main.js
index 4a55d2e8cbb8..3667ebd6ae82 100644
--- a/test/e2e/camoufox-cloudflare/actor/main.js
+++ b/test/e2e/camoufox-cloudflare/actor/main.js
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ await Actor.main(async () => {
         async requestHandler({ page, parseWithCheerio }) {
             const isBlocked = await page
                 .evaluate(async () => {
-                    return !!document.querySelector('.footer .footer-inner .diagnostic-wrapper .ray-id');
+                    return !!document.querySelector('.footer .footer-inner .ray-id');
                 })
                 .catch(() => false);
             const $ = await parseWithCheerio();
