diff --git a/examples/playwright/src/tests/theia-explorer-view.test.ts b/examples/playwright/src/tests/theia-explorer-view.test.ts
index ba846f4459abb..3dc406f261887 100644
--- a/examples/playwright/src/tests/theia-explorer-view.test.ts
+++ b/examples/playwright/src/tests/theia-explorer-view.test.ts
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ test.describe('Theia Explorer View', () => {
         const ws = new TheiaWorkspace(['src/tests/resources/sample-files1']);
         app = await TheiaApp.load(page, ws);
         explorer = await app.openView(TheiaExplorerView);
+        await explorer.waitForVisibleFileNodes();
     });
 
     test('should be visible and active after being opened', async () => {
diff --git a/examples/playwright/src/theia-app.ts b/examples/playwright/src/theia-app.ts
index 0680e1faf6a9e..00ccf3bbcc33d 100644
--- a/examples/playwright/src/theia-app.ts
+++ b/examples/playwright/src/theia-app.ts
@@ -109,6 +109,7 @@ export class TheiaApp {
             throw Error('TheiaExplorerView could not be opened.');
         }
         if (expectFileNodes) {
+            await explorer.waitForVisibleFileNodes();
             const fileStatElements = await explorer.visibleFileStatNodes(DOT_FILES_FILTER);
             if (fileStatElements.length < 1) {
                 throw Error('TheiaExplorerView is empty.');
diff --git a/examples/playwright/src/theia-explorer-view.ts b/examples/playwright/src/theia-explorer-view.ts
index 6cc1cbba132b1..8664dac70e9aa 100644
--- a/examples/playwright/src/theia-explorer-view.ts
+++ b/examples/playwright/src/theia-explorer-view.ts
@@ -148,6 +148,10 @@ export class TheiaExplorerView extends TheiaView {
             await treeNode.focus();
         } else {
             await treeNode.click({ modifiers: ['Control'] });
+            // make sure the click has been acted-upon before returning
+            while (!await this.isTreeNodeSelected(filePath)) {
+                console.debug('Waiting for clicked tree node to be selected: ' + filePath);
+            }
         }
     }
 
@@ -231,4 +235,18 @@ export class TheiaExplorerView extends TheiaView {
         await this.refresh();
     }
 
+    override async waitForVisible(): Promise<void> {
+        await super.waitForVisible();
+        await this.page.waitForSelector(this.tabSelector, { state: 'visible' });
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Waits until some non-dot file nodes are visible
+     */
+    async waitForVisibleFileNodes(): Promise<void> {
+        while ((await this.visibleFileStatNodes(DOT_FILES_FILTER)).length === 0) {
+            console.debug('Awaiting for tree nodes to appear');
+        }
+    }
+
 }