diff --git a/packages/playwright-core/src/server/browserType.ts b/packages/playwright-core/src/server/browserType.ts
index d900b792cc..dd21bbb679 100644
--- a/packages/playwright-core/src/server/browserType.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright-core/src/server/browserType.ts
@@ -31,6 +31,9 @@ import { helper } from './helper';
 import { RecentLogsCollector } from '../utils/debugLogger';
 import { CallMetadata, SdkObject } from './instrumentation';
 
+export const kNoXServerRunningError = 'Looks like you launched a headed browser without having a XServer running.\n' +
+  'Set either \'headless: false\' or use \'xvfb-run <your-playwright-app>\' before running Playwright.\n\n<3 Playwright Team';
+
 export abstract class BrowserType extends SdkObject {
   private _name: BrowserName;
   readonly _playwrightOptions: PlaywrightOptions;
@@ -76,7 +79,7 @@ export abstract class BrowserType extends SdkObject {
 
   async _innerLaunchWithRetries(progress: Progress, options: types.LaunchOptions, persistent: types.BrowserContextOptions | undefined, protocolLogger: types.ProtocolLogger, userDataDir?: string): Promise<Browser> {
     try {
-      return this._innerLaunch(progress, options, persistent, protocolLogger, userDataDir);
+      return await this._innerLaunch(progress, options, persistent, protocolLogger, userDataDir);
     } catch (error) {
       // @see https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/issues/5214
       const errorMessage = typeof error === 'object' && typeof error.message === 'string' ? error.message : '';
diff --git a/packages/playwright-core/src/server/chromium/chromium.ts b/packages/playwright-core/src/server/chromium/chromium.ts
index 03f20c3659..1e52673268 100644
--- a/packages/playwright-core/src/server/chromium/chromium.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright-core/src/server/chromium/chromium.ts
@@ -22,12 +22,12 @@ import { CRBrowser } from './crBrowser';
 import { Env, gracefullyCloseSet } from '../../utils/processLauncher';
 import { kBrowserCloseMessageId } from './crConnection';
 import { rewriteErrorMessage } from '../../utils/stackTrace';
-import { BrowserType } from '../browserType';
+import { BrowserType, kNoXServerRunningError } from '../browserType';
 import { ConnectionTransport, ProtocolRequest, WebSocketTransport } from '../transport';
 import { CRDevTools } from './crDevTools';
 import { Browser, BrowserOptions, BrowserProcess, PlaywrightOptions } from '../browser';
 import * as types from '../types';
-import { debugMode, fetchData, getUserAgent, headersArrayToObject, HTTPRequestParams, removeFolders, streamToString } from '../../utils/utils';
+import { debugMode, fetchData, getUserAgent, headersArrayToObject, HTTPRequestParams, removeFolders, streamToString, wrapInASCIIBox } from '../../utils/utils';
 import { RecentLogsCollector } from '../../utils/debugLogger';
 import { Progress, ProgressController } from '../progress';
 import { TimeoutSettings } from '../../utils/timeoutSettings';
@@ -126,6 +126,8 @@ export class Chromium extends BrowserType {
   }
 
   _rewriteStartupError(error: Error): Error {
+    if (error.message.includes('Missing X server'))
+      return rewriteErrorMessage(error, '\n' + wrapInASCIIBox(kNoXServerRunningError, 1));
     // These error messages are taken from Chromium source code as of July, 2020:
     // https://github.com/chromium/chromium/blob/70565f67e79f79e17663ad1337dc6e63ee207ce9/content/browser/zygote_host/zygote_host_impl_linux.cc
     if (!error.message.includes('crbug.com/357670') && !error.message.includes('No usable sandbox!') && !error.message.includes('crbug.com/638180'))
diff --git a/packages/playwright-core/src/server/firefox/firefox.ts b/packages/playwright-core/src/server/firefox/firefox.ts
index 9c6f45d56c..d5331f7d95 100644
--- a/packages/playwright-core/src/server/firefox/firefox.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright-core/src/server/firefox/firefox.ts
@@ -20,11 +20,13 @@ import fs from 'fs';
 import path from 'path';
 import { FFBrowser } from './ffBrowser';
 import { kBrowserCloseMessageId } from './ffConnection';
-import { BrowserType } from '../browserType';
+import { BrowserType, kNoXServerRunningError } from '../browserType';
 import { Env } from '../../utils/processLauncher';
 import { ConnectionTransport } from '../transport';
 import { BrowserOptions, PlaywrightOptions } from '../browser';
 import * as types from '../types';
+import { rewriteErrorMessage } from '../../utils/stackTrace';
+import { wrapInASCIIBox } from '../../utils/utils';
 
 export class Firefox extends BrowserType {
   constructor(playwrightOptions: PlaywrightOptions) {
@@ -36,6 +38,8 @@ export class Firefox extends BrowserType {
   }
 
   _rewriteStartupError(error: Error): Error {
+    if (error.message.includes('no DISPLAY environment variable specified'))
+      return rewriteErrorMessage(error, '\n' + wrapInASCIIBox(kNoXServerRunningError, 1));
     return error;
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/playwright-core/src/server/webkit/webkit.ts b/packages/playwright-core/src/server/webkit/webkit.ts
index 6b8e1b8efb..dd32a078ab 100644
--- a/packages/playwright-core/src/server/webkit/webkit.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright-core/src/server/webkit/webkit.ts
@@ -19,10 +19,12 @@ import { WKBrowser } from '../webkit/wkBrowser';
 import { Env } from '../../utils/processLauncher';
 import path from 'path';
 import { kBrowserCloseMessageId } from './wkConnection';
-import { BrowserType } from '../browserType';
+import { BrowserType, kNoXServerRunningError } from '../browserType';
 import { ConnectionTransport } from '../transport';
 import { BrowserOptions, PlaywrightOptions } from '../browser';
 import * as types from '../types';
+import { rewriteErrorMessage } from '../../utils/stackTrace';
+import { wrapInASCIIBox } from '../../utils/utils';
 
 export class WebKit extends BrowserType {
   constructor(playwrightOptions: PlaywrightOptions) {
@@ -38,6 +40,8 @@ export class WebKit extends BrowserType {
   }
 
   _rewriteStartupError(error: Error): Error {
+    if (error.message.includes('cannot open display'))
+      return rewriteErrorMessage(error, '\n' + wrapInASCIIBox(kNoXServerRunningError, 1));
     return error;
   }
 
diff --git a/tests/launcher.spec.ts b/tests/launcher.spec.ts
index fea0854664..4be5982e06 100644
--- a/tests/launcher.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/launcher.spec.ts
@@ -40,3 +40,17 @@ it('should kill browser process on timeout after close', async ({ browserType, m
   await browser.close();
   expect(stalled).toBeTruthy();
 });
+
+it('should throw a friendly error if its headed and there is no xserver on linux running', async ({ browserType, platform }) => {
+  it.skip(platform !== 'linux');
+  const error: Error = await browserType.launch({
+    headless: false,
+    env: {
+      ...process.env,
+      DISPLAY: undefined,
+    },
+  }).catch(e => e);
+  expect(error).toBeInstanceOf(Error);
+  expect(error.message).toMatch(/Looks like you launched a headed browser without having a XServer running./);
+  expect(error.message).toMatch(/xvfb-run/);
+});