diff --git a/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/Blazor/BlazorRunOptions.cs b/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/Blazor/BlazorRunOptions.cs
index 1b8145c69ae7d..c0e2a2e60cce0 100644
--- a/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/Blazor/BlazorRunOptions.cs
+++ b/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/Blazor/BlazorRunOptions.cs
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ public record BlazorRunOptions
     bool CheckCounter = true,
     Dictionary<string, string>? ServerEnvironment = null,
     Func<IPage, Task>? Test = null,
-    Action<IPage>? OnPageLoaded = null,
     Action<IPage, IConsoleMessage>? OnConsoleMessage = null,
     Action<string>? OnServerMessage = null,
     Action<string>? OnErrorMessage = null,
diff --git a/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/Blazor/BlazorWasmTestBase.cs b/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/Blazor/BlazorWasmTestBase.cs
index d66fa1d04a0fb..da9c7764f2d1f 100644
--- a/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/Blazor/BlazorWasmTestBase.cs
+++ b/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/Blazor/BlazorWasmTestBase.cs
@@ -202,7 +202,6 @@ public async Task BlazorRunTest(string runArgs,
         var page = await runner.RunAsync(
             runCommand,
             runArgs,
-            onPageLoaded: runOptions.OnPageLoaded,
             onConsoleMessage: OnConsoleMessage,
             onServerMessage: runOptions.OnServerMessage,
             onError: OnErrorMessage,
diff --git a/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/BrowserRunner.cs b/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/BrowserRunner.cs
index 291c2d472ea06..c29233c698441 100644
--- a/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/BrowserRunner.cs
+++ b/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/BrowserRunner.cs
@@ -122,7 +122,6 @@ public async Task<IPage> RunAsync(
         string args,
         bool headless = true,
         Action<IPage, IConsoleMessage>? onConsoleMessage = null,
-        Action<IPage>? onPageLoaded = null,
         Action<string>? onServerMessage = null,
         Action<string>? onError = null,
         Func<string, string>? modifyBrowserUrl = null)
@@ -130,14 +129,13 @@ public async Task<IPage> RunAsync(
         var urlString = await StartServerAndGetUrlAsync(cmd, args, onServerMessage);
         var browser = await SpawnBrowserAsync(urlString, headless);
         var context = await browser.NewContextAsync();
-        return await RunAsync(context, urlString, headless, onPageLoaded, onConsoleMessage, onError, modifyBrowserUrl);
+        return await RunAsync(context, urlString, headless, onConsoleMessage, onError, modifyBrowserUrl);
     }
 
     public async Task<IPage> RunAsync(
         IBrowserContext context,
         string browserUrl,
         bool headless = true,
-        Action<IPage>? onPageLoaded = null,
         Action<IPage, IConsoleMessage>? onConsoleMessage = null,
         Action<string>? onError = null,
         Func<string, string>? modifyBrowserUrl = null,
@@ -150,8 +148,6 @@ public async Task<IPage> RunAsync(
             browserUrl = modifyBrowserUrl(browserUrl);
 
         IPage page = await context.NewPageAsync();
-        if (onPageLoaded is not null)
-            page.Load += (_, _) => onPageLoaded(page);
 
         if (onConsoleMessage is not null)
             page.Console += (_, msg) => onConsoleMessage(page, msg);
diff --git a/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/TestAppScenarios/AppTestBase.cs b/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/TestAppScenarios/AppTestBase.cs
index 7647b16586209..01a1afe96c0bb 100644
--- a/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/TestAppScenarios/AppTestBase.cs
+++ b/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/TestAppScenarios/AppTestBase.cs
@@ -110,7 +110,6 @@ private async Task<RunResult> RunSdkStyleApp(RunOptions options, BlazorRunHost h
                 CheckCounter: false,
                 Config: options.Configuration,
                 ServerEnvironment: options.ServerEnvironment,
-                OnPageLoaded: options.OnPageLoaded,
                 OnConsoleMessage: OnConsoleMessage,
                 OnServerMessage: OnServerMessage,
                 BrowserPath: options.BrowserPath,
@@ -170,7 +169,6 @@ protected record RunOptions(
         string? TestScenario = null,
         Dictionary<string, string> BrowserQueryString = null,
         Dictionary<string, string> ServerEnvironment = null,
-        Action<IPage> OnPageLoaded = null,
         Action<IPage, IConsoleMessage> OnConsoleMessage = null,
         Action<string> OnServerMessage = null,
         int? ExpectedExitCode = 0
diff --git a/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/TestAppScenarios/SignalRClientTests.cs b/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/TestAppScenarios/SignalRClientTests.cs
index b1e46d5110067..eeda072308991 100644
--- a/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/TestAppScenarios/SignalRClientTests.cs
+++ b/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/TestAppScenarios/SignalRClientTests.cs
@@ -47,14 +47,28 @@ public async Task SignalRPassMessages(string config, string transport)
             ServerEnvironment: new Dictionary<string, string> { ["ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT"] = "Development" },
             BrowserPath: "/chat",
             BrowserQueryString: new Dictionary<string, string> { ["transport"] = transport, ["message"] = "ping" },
-            OnPageLoaded: async page => await page.ClickAsync("button#connectButton"),
-            OnServerMessage: (msg) => { serverOutput.Add(msg); },
+            OnServerMessage: (msg) => serverOutput.Add(msg),
             OnConsoleMessage: async (page, msg) =>
             {
                 consoleOutput.Add(msg.Text);
                 if (msg.Text.Contains("TestOutput ->"))
                     _testOutput.WriteLine(msg.Text);
 
+                // prevent timeouts with [Long Running Test] on error
+                if (msg.Text.ToLowerInvariant().Contains("error"))
+                {
+                    Console.WriteLine(msg.Text);
+                    Console.WriteLine(_testOutput);
+                    throw new Exception(msg.Text);
+                }
+
+                if (msg.Text.Contains("Finished GetQueryParameters"))
+                {
+                    // first click after render - make sure buttons are available
+                    await page.WaitForSelectorAsync("button#connectButton");
+                    await page.ClickAsync("button#connectButton");
+                }
+
                 if (msg.Text.Contains("SignalR connected"))
                     await page.ClickAsync("button#subscribeButton");
 
diff --git a/src/mono/wasm/testassets/BlazorHostedApp/BlazorHosted.Client/Pages/Chat.razor b/src/mono/wasm/testassets/BlazorHostedApp/BlazorHosted.Client/Pages/Chat.razor
index 22fc7317b7557..f90aa96c87b92 100644
--- a/src/mono/wasm/testassets/BlazorHostedApp/BlazorHosted.Client/Pages/Chat.razor
+++ b/src/mono/wasm/testassets/BlazorHostedApp/BlazorHosted.Client/Pages/Chat.razor
@@ -27,12 +27,23 @@
     private List<string> chatMessages = new List<string>();
     private string wrongQueryError = "Query string with parameters 'message' and 'transport' are required";
 
+    // remove when https://github.com/dotnet/runtime/issues/96546 is fixed
+    // log that rendering is about to start in case we hit the issue before OnAfterRender is called
+    protected override bool ShouldRender()
+    {
+        bool shouldRender = base.ShouldRender();
+        Helper.TestOutputWriteLine($"ShouldRender = {shouldRender}");
+        return shouldRender;
+    }
+
     protected override void OnAfterRender(bool firstRender)
     {
+        if (firstRender)
+        {
+            Helper.TestOutputWriteLine($"OnAfterRender on CurrentManagedThreadId={Environment.CurrentManagedThreadId}");
+            GetQueryParameters();
+        }
         base.OnAfterRender(firstRender);
-
-        Helper.TestOutputWriteLine($"OnAfterRender on CurrentManagedThreadId={Environment.CurrentManagedThreadId}");
-        GetQueryParameters();
     }
 
     private void GetQueryParameters()
@@ -49,7 +60,7 @@
         }
         transport = Helper.GetValue(parameters, "transport");
         message = $"{transport} {Helper.GetValue(parameters, "message")}" ;
-        Helper.TestOutputWriteLine($"GetQueryParameters on CurrentManagedThreadId={Environment.CurrentManagedThreadId} finished");
+        Helper.TestOutputWriteLine($"Finished GetQueryParameters on CurrentManagedThreadId={Environment.CurrentManagedThreadId}.");
     }
 
     private async Task Connect()