diff --git a/packages/basic-crawler/src/internals/basic-crawler.ts b/packages/basic-crawler/src/internals/basic-crawler.ts
index 74616eaf3c8d..f19053c84690 100644
--- a/packages/basic-crawler/src/internals/basic-crawler.ts
+++ b/packages/basic-crawler/src/internals/basic-crawler.ts
@@ -1152,7 +1152,9 @@ export class BasicCrawler<Context extends CrawlingContext = BasicCrawlingContext
                 );
                 request.state = RequestState.DONE;
             } catch (secondaryError: any) {
-                if (!secondaryError.triggeredFromUserHandler) {
+                if (!secondaryError.triggeredFromUserHandler
+                    // avoid reprinting the same critical error multiple times, as it will be printed by Nodejs at the end anyway
+                    && !(secondaryError instanceof CriticalError)) {
                     const apifySpecific = process.env.APIFY_IS_AT_HOME
                         ? `This may have happened due to an internal error of Apify's API or due to a misconfigured crawler.` : '';
                     this.log.exception(secondaryError as Error, 'An exception occurred during handling of failed request. '
diff --git a/packages/browser-pool/package.json b/packages/browser-pool/package.json
index a05a8676604f..5b2720bfe72f 100644
--- a/packages/browser-pool/package.json
+++ b/packages/browser-pool/package.json
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
     "dependencies": {
         "@apify/log": "^2.4.0",
         "@apify/timeout": "^0.3.0",
+        "@crawlee/core": "3.5.2",
         "@crawlee/types": "3.5.2",
         "fingerprint-generator": "^2.0.6",
         "fingerprint-injector": "^2.0.5",
diff --git a/packages/browser-pool/src/playwright/playwright-plugin.ts b/packages/browser-pool/src/playwright/playwright-plugin.ts
index 2a3b72d0292f..fa1abf4e074b 100644
--- a/packages/browser-pool/src/playwright/playwright-plugin.ts
+++ b/packages/browser-pool/src/playwright/playwright-plugin.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import net from 'net';
 import os from 'os';
 import path from 'path';
 
+import { CriticalError } from '@crawlee/core';
 import type { Browser as PlaywrightBrowser, BrowserType } from 'playwright';
 
 import { loadFirefoxAddon } from './load-firefox-addon';
@@ -63,7 +64,9 @@ export class PlaywrightPlugin extends BrowserPlugin<BrowserType, SafeParameters<
 
         try {
             if (useIncognitoPages) {
-                browser = await this.library.launch(launchOptions);
+                browser = await this.library.launch(launchOptions).catch((error) => {
+                    return this._throwOnFailedLaunch(launchContext, error);
+                });
 
                 if (anonymizedProxyUrl) {
                     browser.on('disconnected', async () => {
@@ -108,7 +111,9 @@ export class PlaywrightPlugin extends BrowserPlugin<BrowserType, SafeParameters<
                     }
                 }
 
-                const browserContext = await this.library.launchPersistentContext(userDataDir, launchOptions);
+                const browserContext = await this.library.launchPersistentContext(userDataDir, launchOptions).catch((error) => {
+                    return this._throwOnFailedLaunch(launchContext, error);
+                });
 
                 browserContext.once('close', () => {
                     if (userDataDir.includes('apify-playwright-firefox-taac-')) {
@@ -174,6 +179,22 @@ export class PlaywrightPlugin extends BrowserPlugin<BrowserType, SafeParameters<
         return browser;
     }
 
+    private _throwOnFailedLaunch(launchContext: LaunchContext<BrowserType>, cause: unknown): never {
+        let debugMessage = `Failed to launch browser.`
+        + `${launchContext.launchOptions?.executablePath
+            ? ` Check whether the provided executable path is correct: ${launchContext.launchOptions?.executablePath}.` : ''}`;
+        if (process.env.APIFY_IS_AT_HOME) {
+            debugMessage += ' Make sure your Dockerfile extends apify/actor-node-playwright-*` (with a correct browser name). Or install';
+        } else {
+            debugMessage += ' Try installing';
+        }
+        debugMessage += ' the required dependencies by running `npx playwright install --with-deps` (https://playwright.dev/docs/browsers).'
+            + ' The original error will be displayed at the bottom as the [cause].';
+        throw new CriticalError(debugMessage, {
+            cause,
+        });
+    }
+
     protected _createController(): BrowserController<BrowserType, SafeParameters<BrowserType['launch']>[0], PlaywrightBrowser> {
         return new PlaywrightController(this);
     }
diff --git a/packages/browser-pool/src/puppeteer/puppeteer-plugin.ts b/packages/browser-pool/src/puppeteer/puppeteer-plugin.ts
index 5e0de0f1cbf5..8d011e615e28 100644
--- a/packages/browser-pool/src/puppeteer/puppeteer-plugin.ts
+++ b/packages/browser-pool/src/puppeteer/puppeteer-plugin.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { CriticalError } from '@crawlee/core';
 import type { Dictionary } from '@crawlee/types';
 import type Puppeteer from 'puppeteer';
 import type * as PuppeteerTypes from 'puppeteer';
@@ -72,10 +73,22 @@ export class PuppeteerPlugin extends BrowserPlugin<
                         await close();
                     });
                 }
-            } catch (error) {
+            } catch (error: any) {
                 await close();
-
-                throw error;
+                let debugMessage = `Failed to launch browser.`
+                    + `${launchContext.launchOptions?.executablePath
+                        ? ` Check whether the provided executable path is correct: ${launchContext.launchOptions?.executablePath}.` : ''}`;
+                if (process.env.APIFY_IS_AT_HOME) {
+                    debugMessage += ' Make sure your Dockerfile extends `apify/actor-node-puppeteer-chrome. Or install';
+                } else {
+                    debugMessage += ' Try installing';
+                }
+                debugMessage += ` a browser, if it's missing, by running \`npx @puppeteer/browsers install chromium --path [path]\``
+                    + ` and pointing \`executablePath\` to the downloaded executable (https://pptr.dev/browsers-api).`
+                    + ` The original error will be displayed at the bottom as the [cause].`;
+                throw new CriticalError(debugMessage, {
+                    cause: error,
+                });
             }
         }
 
diff --git a/packages/core/src/autoscaling/autoscaled_pool.ts b/packages/core/src/autoscaling/autoscaled_pool.ts
index 8e1c601f6f02..376fdc992c86 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/autoscaling/autoscaled_pool.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/autoscaling/autoscaled_pool.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import { Snapshotter } from './snapshotter';
 import type { SystemInfo, SystemStatusOptions } from './system_status';
 import { SystemStatus } from './system_status';
 import { Configuration } from '../configuration';
+import { CriticalError } from '../errors';
 import { log as defaultLog } from '../log';
 
 export interface AutoscaledPoolOptions {
@@ -551,7 +552,12 @@ export class AutoscaledPool {
             // We might have already rejected this promise.
             if (this.reject) {
                 // No need to log all concurrent errors.
-                this.log.exception(err, 'runTaskFunction failed.');
+                if (
+                    // avoid reprinting the same critical error multiple times, as it will be printed by Nodejs at the end anyway
+                    !(e instanceof CriticalError)
+                ) {
+                    this.log.exception(err, 'runTaskFunction failed.');
+                }
                 this.reject(err);
             }
         }
diff --git a/packages/core/src/errors.ts b/packages/core/src/errors.ts
index f8a0e1499f4c..3e55610caf62 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/errors.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/errors.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ export class NonRetryableError extends Error {}
 
 /**
  * Errors of `CriticalError` type will shut down the whole crawler.
+ * Error handlers catching CriticalError should avoid logging it, as it will be logged by Node.js itself at the end
  */
 export class CriticalError extends NonRetryableError {}
 
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index 56d44b1ebce1..97c8de16bf0e 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -761,6 +761,7 @@ __metadata:
   dependencies:
     "@apify/log": ^2.4.0
     "@apify/timeout": ^0.3.0
+    "@crawlee/core": 3.5.2
     "@crawlee/types": 3.5.2
     fingerprint-generator: ^2.0.6
     fingerprint-injector: ^2.0.5