diff --git a/driver/src/main/java/com/microsoft/playwright/impl/driver/Driver.java b/driver/src/main/java/com/microsoft/playwright/impl/driver/Driver.java
index 9b71b2cbc..517650dea 100644
--- a/driver/src/main/java/com/microsoft/playwright/impl/driver/Driver.java
+++ b/driver/src/main/java/com/microsoft/playwright/impl/driver/Driver.java
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 public abstract class Driver {
   protected final Map<String, String> env = new LinkedHashMap<>(System.getenv());
   public static final String PLAYWRIGHT_NODEJS_PATH = "PLAYWRIGHT_NODEJS_PATH";
+  public static final String PLAYWRIGHT_DRIVER_DIR = "PLAYWRIGHT_DRIVER_DIR";
 
   private static Driver instance;
 
@@ -108,9 +109,12 @@ public static Driver createAndInstall(Map<String, String> env, Boolean installBr
   }
 
   private static Driver newInstance() throws Exception {
-    String pathFromProperty = System.getProperty("playwright.cli.dir");
-    if (pathFromProperty != null) {
-      return new PreinstalledDriver(Paths.get(pathFromProperty));
+    String driverDir = System.getProperty("playwright.cli.dir");
+    if (driverDir == null) {
+      driverDir = System.getenv(PLAYWRIGHT_DRIVER_DIR);
+    }
+    if (driverDir != null) {
+      return new PreinstalledDriver(Paths.get(driverDir));
     }
 
     String driverImpl =
diff --git a/driver/src/main/java/com/microsoft/playwright/impl/driver/jar/DriverJar.java b/driver/src/main/java/com/microsoft/playwright/impl/driver/jar/DriverJar.java
index 060bd9c2d..4e35d21c5 100644
--- a/driver/src/main/java/com/microsoft/playwright/impl/driver/jar/DriverJar.java
+++ b/driver/src/main/java/com/microsoft/playwright/impl/driver/jar/DriverJar.java
@@ -30,17 +30,11 @@ public class DriverJar extends Driver {
   private static final String PLAYWRIGHT_SKIP_BROWSER_DOWNLOAD = "PLAYWRIGHT_SKIP_BROWSER_DOWNLOAD";
   private static final String SELENIUM_REMOTE_URL = "SELENIUM_REMOTE_URL";
   private final Path driverTempDir;
+  private final boolean deleteOnExit;
   private Path preinstalledNodePath;
 
   public DriverJar() throws IOException {
-    // Allow specifying custom path for the driver installation
-    // See https://github.com/microsoft/playwright-java/issues/728
-    String alternativeTmpdir = System.getProperty("playwright.driver.tmpdir");
-    String prefix = "playwright-java-";
-    driverTempDir = alternativeTmpdir == null
-      ? Files.createTempDirectory(prefix)
-      : Files.createTempDirectory(Paths.get(alternativeTmpdir), prefix);
-    driverTempDir.toFile().deleteOnExit();
+    this(createTempDriverDir(), true);
     String nodePath = System.getProperty("playwright.nodejs.path");
     if (nodePath != null) {
       preinstalledNodePath = Paths.get(nodePath);
@@ -51,6 +45,32 @@ public DriverJar() throws IOException {
     logMessage("created DriverJar: " + driverTempDir);
   }
 
+  private DriverJar(Path driverDir, boolean deleteOnExit) {
+    this.driverTempDir = driverDir;
+    this.deleteOnExit = deleteOnExit;
+    if (deleteOnExit) {
+      driverTempDir.toFile().deleteOnExit();
+    }
+  }
+
+  private static Path createTempDriverDir() throws IOException {
+    // Allow specifying custom path for the driver installation
+    // See https://github.com/microsoft/playwright-java/issues/728
+    String alternativeTmpdir = System.getProperty("playwright.driver.tmpdir");
+    String prefix = "playwright-java-";
+    return alternativeTmpdir == null
+      ? Files.createTempDirectory(prefix)
+      : Files.createTempDirectory(Paths.get(alternativeTmpdir), prefix);
+  }
+
+  // Extracts the driver (playwright-core package and the Node.js binary for the current platform)
+  // into the given directory, persistently. Point playwright.cli.dir / PLAYWRIGHT_DRIVER_DIR at it
+  // to run without extracting to a temp directory on every launch. See issue #1268.
+  public static void installDriverTo(Path driverDir) throws IOException, URISyntaxException {
+    Files.createDirectories(driverDir);
+    new DriverJar(driverDir, false).extractDriverToTempDir();
+  }
+
   @Override
   protected void initialize(Boolean installBrowsers) throws Exception {
     if (preinstalledNodePath == null && env.containsKey(PLAYWRIGHT_NODEJS_PATH)) {
@@ -156,7 +176,9 @@ private void extractResourceToDir(String resourcePath, Path destDir) throws URIS
               toPath.toFile().setExecutable(true, true);
             }
           }
-          toPath.toFile().deleteOnExit();
+          if (deleteOnExit) {
+            toPath.toFile().deleteOnExit();
+          }
         } catch (IOException e) {
           throw new RuntimeException("Failed to extract driver from " + uri + ", full uri: " + originalUri, e);
         }
@@ -179,7 +201,9 @@ private URI maybeExtractNestedJar(final URI uri) throws URISyntaxException {
       Path fromPath = Paths.get(jarUri);
       Path toPath = driverTempDir.resolve(fromPath.getFileName().toString());
       Files.copy(fromPath, toPath);
-      toPath.toFile().deleteOnExit();
+      if (deleteOnExit) {
+        toPath.toFile().deleteOnExit();
+      }
       return new URI("jar:" + toPath.toUri() + JAR_URL_SEPARATOR + parts[2]);
     } catch (IOException e) {
       throw new RuntimeException("Failed to extract driver's nested .jar from " + jarUri + "; full uri: " + uri, e);
diff --git a/playwright/src/main/java/com/microsoft/playwright/CLI.java b/playwright/src/main/java/com/microsoft/playwright/CLI.java
index 21951bd04..b44febf0b 100644
--- a/playwright/src/main/java/com/microsoft/playwright/CLI.java
+++ b/playwright/src/main/java/com/microsoft/playwright/CLI.java
@@ -17,9 +17,12 @@
 package com.microsoft.playwright;
 
 import com.microsoft.playwright.impl.driver.Driver;
+import com.microsoft.playwright.impl.driver.jar.DriverJar;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.net.URISyntaxException;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.nio.file.Paths;
 import java.util.Collections;
 
 import static java.util.Arrays.asList;
@@ -28,7 +31,13 @@
  * Use this class to launch playwright cli.
  */
 public class CLI {
-  public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException, InterruptedException {
+  public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException, InterruptedException, URISyntaxException {
+    // Extract the driver into a fixed directory instead of running the playwright CLI. This is
+    // handled in Java because it must not require an already-extracted driver. See issue #1268.
+    if (args.length > 0 && "install-driver".equals(args[0])) {
+      installDriver(args);
+      return;
+    }
     Driver driver = Driver.ensureDriverInstalled(Collections.emptyMap(), false);
     ProcessBuilder pb = driver.createProcessBuilder();
     pb.command().addAll(asList(args));
@@ -40,4 +49,17 @@ public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException, InterruptedException
     Process process = pb.start();
     System.exit(process.waitFor());
   }
+
+  private static void installDriver(String[] args) throws IOException, URISyntaxException {
+    String dir = args.length > 1 ? args[1] : System.getenv(Driver.PLAYWRIGHT_DRIVER_DIR);
+    if (dir == null) {
+      System.err.println("Usage: install-driver <dir> (or set the " + Driver.PLAYWRIGHT_DRIVER_DIR
+        + " environment variable)");
+      System.exit(1);
+      return;
+    }
+    Path driverDir = Paths.get(dir);
+    DriverJar.installDriverTo(driverDir);
+    System.out.println("Installed Playwright driver into " + driverDir.toAbsolutePath());
+  }
 }
diff --git a/playwright/src/test/java/com/microsoft/playwright/impl/driver/jar/TestInstall.java b/playwright/src/test/java/com/microsoft/playwright/impl/driver/jar/TestInstall.java
index 953549bf1..6ee296b47 100644
--- a/playwright/src/test/java/com/microsoft/playwright/impl/driver/jar/TestInstall.java
+++ b/playwright/src/test/java/com/microsoft/playwright/impl/driver/jar/TestInstall.java
@@ -132,6 +132,30 @@ void canSpecifyPreinstalledNodeJsAsEnv(@TempDir Path tmpDir) throws IOException,
   }
 
 
+  @Test
+  void canInstallDriverToDirectoryAndReuseIt(@TempDir Path tmpDir) throws Exception {
+    Path driverDir = tmpDir.resolve("driver");
+    DriverJar.installDriverTo(driverDir);
+    // The directory is self-contained: the playwright-core package and the Node.js binary.
+    assertTrue(Files.exists(driverDir.resolve("package").resolve("cli.js")));
+    assertTrue(Files.exists(driverDir.resolve(isWindows() ? "node.exe" : "node")));
+
+    // Pointing playwright.cli.dir at it must reuse it as-is, without extracting to a temp directory.
+    System.setProperty("playwright.cli.dir", driverDir.toString());
+    Driver driver = Driver.createAndInstall(Collections.emptyMap(), false);
+    assertEquals(driverDir, driver.driverDir());
+
+    ProcessBuilder pb = driver.createProcessBuilder();
+    pb.command().add("--version");
+    pb.redirectError(ProcessBuilder.Redirect.INHERIT);
+    Path out = tmpDir.resolve("out.txt");
+    pb.redirectOutput(out.toFile());
+    Process p = pb.start();
+    assertTrue(p.waitFor(1, TimeUnit.MINUTES), "Timed out waiting for version to be printed");
+    String stdout = new String(Files.readAllBytes(out), StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
+    assertTrue(stdout.contains("Version "), stdout);
+  }
+
   private static String extractNodeJsToTemp() throws URISyntaxException, IOException {
     DriverJar auxDriver = new DriverJar();
     auxDriver.extractDriverToTempDir();
diff --git a/utils/docker/Dockerfile.jammy b/utils/docker/Dockerfile.jammy
index 0f290946f..aa64ef493 100644
--- a/utils/docker/Dockerfile.jammy
+++ b/utils/docker/Dockerfile.jammy
@@ -38,6 +38,10 @@ ENV JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-25-openjdk-${PW_TARGET_ARCH}
 
 ENV PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH=/ms-playwright
 
+# Extract the Playwright driver into the image once so the library reuses it instead of unpacking
+# it into /tmp on every launch. See https://github.com/microsoft/playwright-java/issues/1268.
+ENV PLAYWRIGHT_DRIVER_DIR=/ms-playwright-driver
+
 RUN mkdir /ms-playwright && \
     mkdir /tmp/pw-java
 
@@ -45,6 +49,8 @@ COPY . /tmp/pw-java
 
 RUN cd /tmp/pw-java && \
     mvn install -D skipTests --no-transfer-progress && \
+    mvn exec:java -e -D exec.mainClass=com.microsoft.playwright.CLI \
+                     -D exec.args="install-driver" -f playwright/pom.xml --no-transfer-progress && \
     DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive mvn exec:java -e -D exec.mainClass=com.microsoft.playwright.CLI \
                      -D exec.args="install-deps" -f playwright/pom.xml --no-transfer-progress && \
     mvn exec:java -e -D exec.mainClass=com.microsoft.playwright.CLI \
@@ -61,4 +67,5 @@ RUN cd /tmp/pw-java && \
     else \
         rm /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/gstreamer-1.0/libgstwebrtc.so; \
     fi && \
-    chmod -R 777 $PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH
+    chmod -R 777 $PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH && \
+    chmod -R 777 $PLAYWRIGHT_DRIVER_DIR
diff --git a/utils/docker/Dockerfile.noble b/utils/docker/Dockerfile.noble
index 6b8b4bac8..eafb59ba4 100644
--- a/utils/docker/Dockerfile.noble
+++ b/utils/docker/Dockerfile.noble
@@ -38,6 +38,10 @@ ENV JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-25-openjdk-${PW_TARGET_ARCH}
 
 ENV PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH=/ms-playwright
 
+# Extract the Playwright driver into the image once so the library reuses it instead of unpacking
+# it into /tmp on every launch. See https://github.com/microsoft/playwright-java/issues/1268.
+ENV PLAYWRIGHT_DRIVER_DIR=/ms-playwright-driver
+
 RUN mkdir /ms-playwright && \
     mkdir /tmp/pw-java
 
@@ -45,6 +49,8 @@ COPY . /tmp/pw-java
 
 RUN cd /tmp/pw-java && \
     mvn install -D skipTests --no-transfer-progress && \
+    mvn exec:java -e -D exec.mainClass=com.microsoft.playwright.CLI \
+                     -D exec.args="install-driver" -f playwright/pom.xml --no-transfer-progress && \
     DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive mvn exec:java -e -D exec.mainClass=com.microsoft.playwright.CLI \
                      -D exec.args="install-deps" -f playwright/pom.xml --no-transfer-progress && \
     mvn exec:java -e -D exec.mainClass=com.microsoft.playwright.CLI \
@@ -52,4 +58,5 @@ RUN cd /tmp/pw-java && \
     mvn exec:java -e -D exec.mainClass=com.microsoft.playwright.CLI \
                      -D exec.args="mark-docker-image '${DOCKER_IMAGE_NAME_TEMPLATE}'" -f playwright/pom.xml --no-transfer-progress && \
     rm -rf /tmp/pw-java && \
-    chmod -R 777 $PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH
+    chmod -R 777 $PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH && \
+    chmod -R 777 $PLAYWRIGHT_DRIVER_DIR
diff --git a/utils/docker/Dockerfile.resolute b/utils/docker/Dockerfile.resolute
index a775c5ca4..64a68de4a 100644
--- a/utils/docker/Dockerfile.resolute
+++ b/utils/docker/Dockerfile.resolute
@@ -38,6 +38,10 @@ ENV JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-25-openjdk-${PW_TARGET_ARCH}
 
 ENV PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH=/ms-playwright
 
+# Extract the Playwright driver into the image once so the library reuses it instead of unpacking
+# it into /tmp on every launch. See https://github.com/microsoft/playwright-java/issues/1268.
+ENV PLAYWRIGHT_DRIVER_DIR=/ms-playwright-driver
+
 RUN mkdir /ms-playwright && \
     mkdir /tmp/pw-java
 
@@ -45,6 +49,8 @@ COPY . /tmp/pw-java
 
 RUN cd /tmp/pw-java && \
     mvn install -D skipTests --no-transfer-progress && \
+    mvn exec:java -e -D exec.mainClass=com.microsoft.playwright.CLI \
+                     -D exec.args="install-driver" -f playwright/pom.xml --no-transfer-progress && \
     DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive mvn exec:java -e -D exec.mainClass=com.microsoft.playwright.CLI \
                      -D exec.args="install-deps" -f playwright/pom.xml --no-transfer-progress && \
     mvn exec:java -e -D exec.mainClass=com.microsoft.playwright.CLI \
@@ -52,4 +58,5 @@ RUN cd /tmp/pw-java && \
     mvn exec:java -e -D exec.mainClass=com.microsoft.playwright.CLI \
                      -D exec.args="mark-docker-image '${DOCKER_IMAGE_NAME_TEMPLATE}'" -f playwright/pom.xml --no-transfer-progress && \
     rm -rf /tmp/pw-java && \
-    chmod -R 777 $PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH
+    chmod -R 777 $PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH && \
+    chmod -R 777 $PLAYWRIGHT_DRIVER_DIR