diff --git a/lib/chromedriver.js b/lib/chromedriver.js
index bd0cd626..a7c852a7 100644
--- a/lib/chromedriver.js
+++ b/lib/chromedriver.js
@@ -97,6 +97,8 @@ export class Chromedriver extends events.EventEmitter {
     // Store the running driver version
     /** @type {string|null} */
     this._driverVersion = null;
+    /** @type {Record<string, any> | null} */
+    this._onlineStatus = null;
   }
 
   get log() {
@@ -525,6 +527,16 @@ export class Chromedriver extends events.EventEmitter {
    * @returns {keyof PROTOCOLS}
    */
   syncProtocol() {
+    if (_.includes(this._onlineStatus?.message, 'OperaDriver')) {
+      this.log.info(
+        `OperaDriver is known to not support ${PROTOCOLS.W3C} protocol, ` +
+        `defaulting to ${PROTOCOLS.MJSONWP}. ` +
+        `See https://github.com/operasoftware/operachromiumdriver/issues/88`
+      );
+      this._desiredProtocol = PROTOCOLS.MJSONWP;
+      return this._desiredProtocol;
+    }
+
     if (this.driverVersion) {
       const coercedVersion = semver.coerce(this.driverVersion);
       if (!coercedVersion || coercedVersion.major < MIN_CD_VERSION_WITH_W3C_SUPPORT) {
@@ -630,6 +642,7 @@ export class Chromedriver extends events.EventEmitter {
       this.proc.once('exit', (code, signal) => {
         this._driverVersion = null;
         this._desiredProtocol = null;
+        this._onlineStatus = null;
         processIsAlive = false;
         if (
           this.state !== Chromedriver.STATE_STOPPED &&
@@ -710,6 +723,7 @@ export class Chromedriver extends events.EventEmitter {
       if (!_.isPlainObject(status) || !status.ready) {
         throw new Error(`The response to the /status API is not valid: ${JSON.stringify(status)}`);
       }
+      this._onlineStatus = status;
       const versionMatch = VERSION_PATTERN.exec(status.build?.version ?? '');
       if (versionMatch) {
         this._driverVersion = versionMatch[1];