diff --git a/examples/playwright/package.json b/examples/playwright/package.json
index 5258ed4df1233..b685ab8597b8e 100644
--- a/examples/playwright/package.json
+++ b/examples/playwright/package.json
@@ -15,12 +15,12 @@
     "clean": "rimraf lib *.tsbuildinfo .eslintcache",
     "build": "yarn && yarn clean && tsc --incremental && yarn lint && yarn playwright:install",
     "watch": "tsc -w --incremental",
-    "theia:start": "rimraf .tmp.cfg && THEIA_CONFIG_DIR=$PWD/.tmp.cfg yarn --cwd ../browser start",
+    "theia:start": "rimraf .tmp.cfg && cross-env THEIA_CONFIG_DIR=$PWD/.tmp.cfg yarn --cwd ../browser start",
     "lint": "eslint -c ./.eslintrc.js --ext .ts ./src",
     "lint:fix": "eslint -c ./.eslintrc.js --ext .ts ./src --fix",
     "playwright:install": "playwright install chromium",
     "ui-tests": "yarn build && playwright test --config=./configs/playwright.config.ts",
-    "ui-tests-electron": "yarn build && USE_ELECTRON=true playwright test --config=./configs/playwright.config.ts",
+    "ui-tests-electron": "yarn build && cross-env USE_ELECTRON=true playwright test --config=./configs/playwright.config.ts",
     "ui-tests-ci": "yarn build && playwright test --config=./configs/playwright.ci.config.ts",
     "ui-tests-headful": "yarn build && playwright test --config=./configs/playwright.headful.config.ts",
     "ui-tests-report-generate": "allure generate ./allure-results --clean -o allure-results/allure-report",
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
     "@types/fs-extra": "^9.0.8",
     "allure-commandline": "^2.23.1",
     "allure-playwright": "^2.5.0",
+    "cross-env": "^7.0.3",
     "rimraf": "^2.6.1",
     "typescript": "~5.4.5"
   },
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index 357df3bc60eb0..7e743ace87f5e 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -4386,6 +4386,13 @@ crc32-stream@^4.0.2:
     crc-32 "^1.2.0"
     readable-stream "^3.4.0"
 
+cross-env@^7.0.3:
+  version "7.0.3"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/cross-env/-/cross-env-7.0.3.tgz#865264b29677dc015ba8418918965dd232fc54cf"
+  integrity sha512-+/HKd6EgcQCJGh2PSjZuUitQBQynKor4wrFbRg4DtAgS1aWO+gU52xpH7M9ScGgXSYmAVS9bIJ8EzuaGw0oNAw==
+  dependencies:
+    cross-spawn "^7.0.1"
+
 cross-fetch@3.1.5:
   version "3.1.5"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/cross-fetch/-/cross-fetch-3.1.5.tgz#e1389f44d9e7ba767907f7af8454787952ab534f"