diff --git a/packages/playground/blueprints/src/lib/steps/activate-plugin.spec.ts b/packages/playground/blueprints/src/lib/steps/activate-plugin.spec.ts
index 030886a2a8..23e2997fc3 100644
--- a/packages/playground/blueprints/src/lib/steps/activate-plugin.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/playground/blueprints/src/lib/steps/activate-plugin.spec.ts
@@ -180,6 +180,52 @@ describe('Blueprint step activatePlugin()', () => {
 		).resolves.not.toThrow();
 	});
 
+	it('should log noisy activation output and still treat the plugin as active', async () => {
+		const docroot = handler.documentRoot;
+		php.writeFile(
+			`${docroot}/wp-content/plugins/noisy-plugin.php`,
+			`<?php
+			/**
+			 * Plugin Name: Noisy Plugin
+			 */
+			register_activation_hook( __FILE__, function() {
+				echo 'Activation says hi';
+			} );
+
+			register_shutdown_function( function() {
+				echo 'Shutdown chimes in too';
+			} );
+			`
+		);
+
+		await expect(
+			activatePlugin(php, {
+				pluginPath: 'noisy-plugin.php',
+			})
+		).resolves.not.toThrow();
+	});
+
+	it('should throw an error if the plugin was not activated and noisy output is present', async () => {
+		const docroot = handler.documentRoot;
+		php.writeFile(
+			`${docroot}/wp-content/plugins/noisy-plugin.php`,
+			`<?php
+			/**
+			 * Plugin Name: Noisy Plugin
+			 */
+			register_activation_hook( __FILE__, function() {
+				throw new Exception( 'Activation failed' );
+			} );
+			`
+		);
+
+		await expect(
+			activatePlugin(php, {
+				pluginPath: 'noisy-plugin.php',
+			})
+		).rejects.toThrow(/Uncaught Exception: Activation failed/);
+	});
+
 	it('should not throw an error if the plugin is already active', async () => {
 		const docroot = handler.documentRoot;
 		php.writeFile(
diff --git a/packages/playground/blueprints/src/lib/steps/activate-plugin.ts b/packages/playground/blueprints/src/lib/steps/activate-plugin.ts
index ad3d3a9f98..300c34cfcb 100644
--- a/packages/playground/blueprints/src/lib/steps/activate-plugin.ts
+++ b/packages/playground/blueprints/src/lib/steps/activate-plugin.ts
@@ -37,6 +37,21 @@ export const activatePlugin: StepHandler<ActivatePluginStep> = async (
 	progress?.tracker.setCaption(`Activating ${pluginName || pluginPath}`);
 
 	const docroot = await playground.documentRoot;
+	/**
+	 * Instead of checking the plugin activation response,
+	 * check if the plugin is active by looking at the active plugins list.
+	 *
+	 * We have to split the activation and the check into two PHP runs
+	 * because some plugins might redirect during activation,
+	 * which would prevent any output that happens after activation from being returned.
+	 *
+	 * Relying on the plugin activation response is not reliable because if the plugin activation
+	 * produces any output, WordPress will assume it's an activation error and return a WP_Error.
+	 * WordPress will still activate the plugin and load the required page,
+	 * but it will also show the error as a notice in wp-admin.
+	 * See WordPress source code for more details:
+	 * https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/blob/6.7/src/wp-admin/includes/plugin.php#L733
+	 */
 	const activatePluginResult = await playground.run({
 		code: `<?php
 			define( 'WP_ADMIN', true );
@@ -81,47 +96,18 @@ export const activatePlugin: StepHandler<ActivatePluginStep> = async (
 	}
 
 	/**
-	 * Instead of checking the plugin activation response,
-	 * check if the plugin is active by looking at the active plugins list.
+	 * Instead of trusting the activation response, check the active plugins list.
 	 *
-	 * We have to split the activation and the check into two PHP runs
-	 * because some plugins might redirect during activation,
-	 * which would prevent any output that happens after activation from being returned.
-	 *
-	 * Relying on the plugin activation response is not reliable because if the plugin activation
-	 * produces any output, WordPress will assume it's an activation error and return a WP_Error.
-	 * WordPress will still activate the plugin and load the required page,
-	 * but it will also show the error as a notice in wp-admin.
-	 * See WordPress source code for more details:
-	 * https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/blob/6.7/src/wp-admin/includes/plugin.php#L733
-	 *
-	 * Because some plugins can create an output, we need to use output buffering
-	 * to ensure the 'true' response is not polluted by other outputs.
-	 * If the plugin activation fails, we will return the buffered output as it might
-	 * contain more information about the failure.
+	 * We try to discard any extra output via output buffering. The output of the script below 
+	 * end with `{"success": true}` or `{"success": false}`. Only `{"success": true}` is
+	 * treated as a successful plugin activation.
 	 */
-	const isActiveCheckResult = await playground.run({
+	const activationStatusResult = await playground.run({
 		code: `<?php
 			ob_start();
 			require_once( getenv( 'DOCROOT' ) . "/wp-load.php" );
 
-			/**
-			 * Extracts the relative plugin path from either an absolute or relative plugin path.
-			 *
-			 * Absolute paths starting with plugin directory (e.g., '/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/test-plugin/index.php')
-			 * should be converted to relative paths (e.g., 'test-plugin/index.php')
-			 *
-			 * Directories should finish with a trailing slash to ensure we match the full plugin directory name.
-			 *
-			 * Examples:
-			 * - '/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/test-plugin/index.php' → 'test-plugin/index.php'
-			 * - '/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/test-plugin/' → 'test-plugin/'
-			 * - '/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/test-plugin' → 'test-plugin/'
-			 * - 'test-plugin/index.php' → 'test-plugin/index.php'
-			 * - 'test-plugin/' → 'test-plugin/'
-			 * - 'test-plugin' → 'test-plugin/'
-			 */
-			$plugin_directory = WP_PLUGIN_DIR . '/';
+			$plugin_directory = rtrim( WP_PLUGIN_DIR, '/' ) . '/';
 			$relative_plugin_path = getenv( 'PLUGIN_PATH' );
 			if (strpos($relative_plugin_path, $plugin_directory) === 0) {
 				$relative_plugin_path = substr($relative_plugin_path, strlen($plugin_directory));
@@ -132,13 +118,24 @@ export const activatePlugin: StepHandler<ActivatePluginStep> = async (
 			}
 
 			$active_plugins = get_option( 'active_plugins' );
-			foreach ( $active_plugins as $plugin ) {
-				if ( substr( $plugin, 0, strlen( $relative_plugin_path ) ) === $relative_plugin_path ) {
-					ob_end_clean();
-					die( 'true' );
-				}
+			if ( ! is_array( $active_plugins ) ) {
+				$active_plugins = array();
 			}
-			die( ob_get_flush() ?: 'false' );
+			ob_end_clean();
+
+			/**
+			 * Use a shutdown function to ensure the activation-related output comes
+			 * last in stdout.
+			 */
+			register_shutdown_function( function() use ( $relative_plugin_path, $active_plugins ) {
+				foreach ( $active_plugins as $plugin ) {
+					if ( substr( $plugin, 0, strlen( $relative_plugin_path ) ) === $relative_plugin_path ) {
+						die('{"success": true}');
+						break;
+					}
+				}
+				die('{"success": false}');
+			});
 		`,
 		env: {
 			DOCROOT: docroot,
@@ -146,14 +143,14 @@ export const activatePlugin: StepHandler<ActivatePluginStep> = async (
 		},
 	});
 
-	if (isActiveCheckResult.text === 'true') {
-		// Plugin activation was successful, yay!
+	const rawStatus = (activationStatusResult.text ?? '').trim();
+	if (rawStatus.endsWith('{"success": true}')) {
 		return;
 	}
-
-	if (isActiveCheckResult.text !== 'false') {
-		logger.debug(isActiveCheckResult.text);
+	if (rawStatus !== '{"success": false}') {
+		logger.debug(rawStatus);
 	}
+
 	throw new Error(
 		`Plugin ${pluginPath} could not be activated – WordPress exited with no error. ` +
 			`Sometimes, when $_SERVER or site options are not configured correctly, ` +