diff --git a/crawl4ai/async_crawler_strategy.py b/crawl4ai/async_crawler_strategy.py
index 2330b3f3..ddd6348e 100644
--- a/crawl4ai/async_crawler_strategy.py
+++ b/crawl4ai/async_crawler_strategy.py
@@ -130,6 +130,8 @@ class AsyncPlaywrightCrawlerStrategy(AsyncCrawlerStrategy):
         Close the browser and clean up resources.
         """
         await self.browser_manager.close()
+        # Explicitly reset the static Playwright instance
+        BrowserManager._playwright_instance = None
 
     async def kill_session(self, session_id: str):
         """