diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index f8bd6f3..f26d69d 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 A plugin/middleware system for Playwright locator actions — the one Playwright doesn't have.
 
-Wrap `click`, `fill`, `waitFor` and friends with composable middleware, so your tests can be smart about *why* an action is slow or failing, without sprinkling `waitForSomething()` helpers through every test.
+Wrap `click`, `fill`, `inputValue`, `waitFor` and friends with composable middleware, so your tests can be smart about *why* an action is slow or failing, without sprinkling `waitForSomething()` helpers through every test.
 
 ## Quick start
 
@@ -523,7 +523,7 @@ configured pattern must match the nearby comment:
 
 ## How it works
 
-`addPlugins` patches `Locator.prototype` (once per process), replacing `click`, `dblclick`, `fill`, `type`, `press`, `clear`, `blur`, `focus`, `hover` and `waitFor` with a dispatcher. The dispatcher looks up the plugin state stored on the action's page; if the page has plugins, it runs the middleware chain (each middleware calling `next()` until the original method runs); if not, it calls the original method directly.
+`addPlugins` patches `Locator.prototype` (once per process), replacing `click`, `dblclick`, `fill`, `type`, `press`, `clear`, `blur`, `focus`, `hover`, `inputValue` and `waitFor` with a dispatcher. The dispatcher looks up the plugin state stored on the action's page; if the page has plugins, it runs the middleware chain (each middleware calling `next()` until the original method runs); if not, it calls the original method directly.
 
 To keep Playwright's HTML report pointing at *your test code* rather than plugin internals, it registers the plugin files with playwright-core's internal `setBoxedStackPrefixes` — the same mechanism Playwright uses to hide its own frames. This is the unofficial-API part of the hack; set `PLAYWRIGHT_PLUGIN_DEBUG=1` to disable it when debugging the plugins themselves.
 
@@ -546,3 +546,5 @@ Extracted from the internal test infrastructure of the [iterate](https://github.
 ## License
 
 MIT
+
+`inputValue()` uses the same loading-aware wait when the input has not appeared yet, then returns its current value. It does not wait for a particular value; an explicit timeout still passes through unchanged.
diff --git a/spec/spinner-waiter.spec.ts b/spec/spinner-waiter.spec.ts
index e303413..6fcd229 100644
--- a/spec/spinner-waiter.spec.ts
+++ b/spec/spinner-waiter.spec.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import http from "node:http";
 import type { AddressInfo } from "node:net";
-import { test as base, expect } from "@playwright/test";
+import { test as base, expect, selectors } from "@playwright/test";
 import { addPlugins, defaultSelectors, spinnerWaiter, type Plugin } from "../src/index.ts";
 
 const test = base.extend<{ slowMutationTimeout: number }>({
@@ -32,6 +32,28 @@ test("slow button succeeds when there's a spinner", async ({ page }) => {
   await page.getByText("work done").waitFor();
 });
 
+test("inputValue waits for a loading composer and returns its value", async ({ page }) => {
+  await page.setContent(`
+    <p data-spinner="true">Opening chat…</p>
+    <script>
+      setTimeout(() => {
+        document.body.innerHTML = '<textarea aria-label="Message">About my edited note</textarea>';
+      }, 2000);
+    </script>
+  `);
+  expect(await page.getByLabel("Message").inputValue()).toBe("About my edited note");
+});
+
+test("inputValue preserves an explicit timeout and can read disabled inputs", async ({ page }) => {
+  await page.setContent('<input aria-label="Saved note" disabled value="green apples">');
+  expect(await page.getByLabel("Saved note").inputValue()).toBe("green apples");
+  await page.setContent('<p data-spinner="true">Opening chat…</p>');
+  // Explicit timeout must bypass spinner-waiter even while progress is visible.
+  await expect(page.getByLabel("Missing").inputValue({ timeout: 100 })).rejects.toThrow(
+    /Timeout 100ms exceeded/,
+  );
+});
+
 test("visible disabled button succeeds when there's a spinner", async ({ page }) => {
   await page.setContent(`
     <button
@@ -98,6 +120,33 @@ test("fails before a late spinner can make the no-spinner hint misleading", asyn
   expect(elapsed).toBeLessThan(1500); // we don't tolerate the spinner taking a long time to appear
 });
 
+base(
+  "a control becoming ready during the loading check keeps its normal action budget",
+  async ({ page: basePage }, testInfo) => {
+    // Finish the UI update exactly when loading is checked, after the initial
+    // readiness check. The selector controls scheduling; the click is real.
+    await selectors.register("complete_spinner", () => ({
+      query: () => null,
+      queryAll(root: Document | Element) {
+        root.querySelector("button")?.removeAttribute("disabled");
+        root.querySelector("#spinner")?.remove();
+        return [];
+      },
+    }));
+    await using page = await addPlugins({
+      page: basePage,
+      testInfo,
+      plugins: [spinnerWaiter({ spinnerSelectors: ["complete_spinner=now"] })],
+    });
+    await page.setContent(`
+    <button disabled onclick="this.textContent = 'submitted'">Submit</button>
+    <p id="spinner">Loading…</p>
+  `);
+    await page.getByRole("button", { name: "Submit", exact: true }).click();
+    await page.getByRole("button", { name: "submitted", exact: true }).waitFor();
+  },
+);
+
 base("no-spinner fast fail still runs later middleware", async ({ page: basePage }, testInfo) => {
   const calls: string[] = [];
   const afterSpinner: Plugin = {
diff --git a/src/plugin-system.ts b/src/plugin-system.ts
index 7788774..228dd1b 100644
--- a/src/plugin-system.ts
+++ b/src/plugin-system.ts
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ const overrideableMethods = [
   "blur",
   "focus",
   "hover",
+  "inputValue",
   ...oneArgMethods,
 ] satisfies (keyof Locator)[];
 type OverrideableMethod = (typeof overrideableMethods)[number];
diff --git a/src/plugins/spinner-waiter.ts b/src/plugins/spinner-waiter.ts
index d724660..feffb88 100644
--- a/src/plugins/spinner-waiter.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/spinner-waiter.ts
@@ -160,6 +160,10 @@ export const spinnerWaiter = Object.assign(
         }
 
         if (!loading) {
+          // The target may have appeared while we checked loading. Do not
+          // turn a now-ready action into a 1ms timeout just because its
+          // spinner disappeared between the two observations.
+          if (await locatorIsReady(locator, method)) return next();
           // No spinner, no navigation - call action, suggest a spinner if it fails
           settings.log(`${locator} not ready, nothing loading, failing fast`);
           try {