diff --git a/core/src/components/select/select.tsx b/core/src/components/select/select.tsx
index 9fe26349bb1..e15ae27e653 100644
--- a/core/src/components/select/select.tsx
+++ b/core/src/components/select/select.tsx
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import type { ComponentInterface, EventEmitter } from '@stencil/core';
 import { Component, Element, Event, Host, Method, Prop, State, Watch, h, forceUpdate } from '@stencil/core';
 import type { LegacyFormController, NotchController } from '@utils/forms';
 import { compareOptions, createLegacyFormController, createNotchController, isOptionSelected } from '@utils/forms';
-import { findItemLabel, focusElement, getAriaLabel, renderHiddenInput, inheritAttributes } from '@utils/helpers';
+import { findItemLabel, focusVisibleElement, getAriaLabel, renderHiddenInput, inheritAttributes } from '@utils/helpers';
 import type { Attributes } from '@utils/helpers';
 import { printIonWarning } from '@utils/logging';
 import { actionSheetController, alertController, popoverController } from '@utils/overlays';
@@ -329,7 +329,7 @@ export class Select implements ComponentInterface {
         );
 
         if (selectedItem) {
-          focusElement(selectedItem);
+          focusVisibleElement(selectedItem);
 
           /**
            * Browsers such as Firefox do not
@@ -355,7 +355,7 @@ export class Select implements ComponentInterface {
           'ion-radio:not(.radio-disabled), ion-checkbox:not(.checkbox-disabled)'
         );
         if (firstEnabledOption) {
-          focusElement(firstEnabledOption.closest('ion-item')!);
+          focusVisibleElement(firstEnabledOption.closest('ion-item')!);
 
           /**
            * Focus the option for the same reason as we do above.
diff --git a/core/src/utils/helpers.ts b/core/src/utils/helpers.ts
index 3dff5a5e657..81ffb4efa92 100644
--- a/core/src/utils/helpers.ts
+++ b/core/src/utils/helpers.ts
@@ -262,7 +262,7 @@ export const findItemLabel = (componentEl: HTMLElement): HTMLIonLabelElement | n
   return null;
 };
 
-export const focusElement = (el: HTMLElement) => {
+export const focusVisibleElement = (el: HTMLElement) => {
   el.focus();
 
   /**
diff --git a/core/src/utils/overlays.ts b/core/src/utils/overlays.ts
index 8ccb015d8d8..11ec2f56698 100644
--- a/core/src/utils/overlays.ts
+++ b/core/src/utils/overlays.ts
@@ -22,7 +22,13 @@ import type {
 
 import { CoreDelegate } from './framework-delegate';
 import { OVERLAY_BACK_BUTTON_PRIORITY } from './hardware-back-button';
-import { addEventListener, componentOnReady, focusElement, getElementRoot, removeEventListener } from './helpers';
+import {
+  addEventListener,
+  componentOnReady,
+  focusVisibleElement,
+  getElementRoot,
+  removeEventListener,
+} from './helpers';
 import { printIonWarning } from './logging';
 
 let lastOverlayIndex = 0;
@@ -131,38 +137,55 @@ export const createOverlay = <T extends HTMLIonOverlayElement>(
  */
 const focusableQueryString =
   '[tabindex]:not([tabindex^="-"]):not([hidden]):not([disabled]), input:not([type=hidden]):not([tabindex^="-"]):not([hidden]):not([disabled]), textarea:not([tabindex^="-"]):not([hidden]):not([disabled]), button:not([tabindex^="-"]):not([hidden]):not([disabled]), select:not([tabindex^="-"]):not([hidden]):not([disabled]), .ion-focusable:not([tabindex^="-"]):not([hidden]):not([disabled]), .ion-focusable[disabled="false"]:not([tabindex^="-"]):not([hidden])';
+const isOverlayHidden = (overlay: Element) => overlay.classList.contains('overlay-hidden');
 
+/**
+ * Focuses the first descendant in an overlay
+ * that can receive focus. If none exists,
+ * the entire overlay will be focused.
+ */
 export const focusFirstDescendant = (ref: Element, overlay: HTMLIonOverlayElement) => {
-  let firstInput = ref.querySelector(focusableQueryString) as HTMLElement | null;
-
-  const shadowRoot = firstInput?.shadowRoot;
-  if (shadowRoot) {
-    // If there are no inner focusable elements, just focus the host element.
-    firstInput = shadowRoot.querySelector(focusableQueryString) || firstInput;
-  }
+  const firstInput = ref.querySelector(focusableQueryString) as HTMLElement | null;
 
-  if (firstInput) {
-    focusElement(firstInput);
-  } else {
-    // Focus overlay instead of letting focus escape
-    overlay.focus();
-  }
+  focusElementInOverlay(firstInput, overlay);
 };
 
-const isOverlayHidden = (overlay: Element) => overlay.classList.contains('overlay-hidden');
-
+/**
+ * Focuses the last descendant in an overlay
+ * that can receive focus. If none exists,
+ * the entire overlay will be focused.
+ */
 const focusLastDescendant = (ref: Element, overlay: HTMLIonOverlayElement) => {
   const inputs = Array.from(ref.querySelectorAll(focusableQueryString)) as HTMLElement[];
-  let lastInput = inputs.length > 0 ? inputs[inputs.length - 1] : null;
+  const lastInput = inputs.length > 0 ? inputs[inputs.length - 1] : null;
+
+  focusElementInOverlay(lastInput, overlay);
+};
+
+/**
+ * Focuses a particular element in an overlay. If the element
+ * doesn't have anything focusable associated with it then
+ * the overlay itself will be focused.
+ * This should be used instead of the focus() method
+ * on most elements because the focusable element
+ * may not be the host element.
+ *
+ * For example, if an ion-button should be focused
+ * then we should actually focus the native <button>
+ * element inside of ion-button's shadow root, not
+ * the host element itself.
+ */
+const focusElementInOverlay = (hostToFocus: HTMLElement | null | undefined, overlay: HTMLIonOverlayElement) => {
+  let elementToFocus = hostToFocus;
 
-  const shadowRoot = lastInput?.shadowRoot;
+  const shadowRoot = hostToFocus?.shadowRoot;
   if (shadowRoot) {
     // If there are no inner focusable elements, just focus the host element.
-    lastInput = shadowRoot.querySelector(focusableQueryString) || lastInput;
+    elementToFocus = shadowRoot.querySelector<HTMLElement>(focusableQueryString) || hostToFocus;
   }
 
-  if (lastInput) {
-    lastInput.focus();
+  if (elementToFocus) {
+    focusVisibleElement(elementToFocus);
   } else {
     // Focus overlay instead of letting focus escape
     overlay.focus();
@@ -219,6 +242,20 @@ const trapKeyboardFocus = (ev: Event, doc: Document) => {
      */
     if (lastOverlay === target) {
       lastOverlay.lastFocus = undefined;
+      /**
+       * Toasts can be presented from an overlay.
+       * However, focus should still be returned to
+       * the overlay when clicking a toast. Normally,
+       * focus would be returned to the last focusable
+       * descendant in the overlay which may not always be
+       * the button that the toast was presented from. In this case,
+       * the focus may be returned to an unexpected element.
+       * To account for this, we make sure to return focus to the
+       * last focused element in the overlay if focus is
+       * moved to the toast.
+       */
+    } else if (target.tagName === 'ION-TOAST') {
+      focusElementInOverlay(lastOverlay.lastFocus, lastOverlay);
 
       /**
        * Otherwise, we must be focusing an element
@@ -295,6 +332,20 @@ const trapKeyboardFocus = (ev: Event, doc: Document) => {
      */
     if (lastOverlay.contains(target)) {
       lastOverlay.lastFocus = target;
+      /**
+       * Toasts can be presented from an overlay.
+       * However, focus should still be returned to
+       * the overlay when clicking a toast. Normally,
+       * focus would be returned to the last focusable
+       * descendant in the overlay which may not always be
+       * the button that the toast was presented from. In this case,
+       * the focus may be returned to an unexpected element.
+       * To account for this, we make sure to return focus to the
+       * last focused element in the overlay if focus is
+       * moved to the toast.
+       */
+    } else if (target.tagName === 'ION-TOAST') {
+      focusElementInOverlay(lastOverlay.lastFocus, lastOverlay);
     } else {
       /**
        * Otherwise, we are about to have focus
diff --git a/core/src/utils/test/overlays/overlays.e2e.ts b/core/src/utils/test/overlays/overlays.e2e.ts
index 26f86c21c52..ebe7d25a273 100644
--- a/core/src/utils/test/overlays/overlays.e2e.ts
+++ b/core/src/utils/test/overlays/overlays.e2e.ts
@@ -255,6 +255,126 @@ configs({ modes: ['ios'], directions: ['ltr'] }).forEach(({ title, config }) =>
       await expect(modalInputOne).toBeFocused();
     });
 
+    test('focusing toast from a shadow overlay should return focus to the last focused element', async ({ page }) => {
+      test.info().annotations.push({
+        type: 'issue',
+        description: 'https://github.com/ionic-team/ionic-framework/issues/28261',
+      });
+
+      /**
+       * Triggers for an overlay are typically buttons. However in this case,
+       * buttons are not considered keyboard focusable by WebKit. Inputs are,
+       * so we use an input here so we can still test on WebKit.
+       */
+      await page.setContent(
+        `
+        <ion-modal>
+          <ion-content>
+            <input id="show-toast">Button A</input>
+            <button>Button B</button>
+            <ion-toast trigger="show-toast"></ion-toast>
+          </ion-content>
+        </ion-modal>
+
+        <script>
+          const toast = document.querySelector('ion-toast');
+          toast.buttons = ['Ok'];
+        </script>
+      `,
+        config
+      );
+
+      const modal = page.locator('ion-modal');
+      const showToastTrigger = page.locator('#show-toast');
+
+      const toast = page.locator('ion-toast');
+      const toastButton = toast.locator('button');
+
+      const ionToastDidPresent = await page.spyOnEvent('ionToastDidPresent');
+
+      // Show overlay
+      await modal.evaluate((el: HTMLIonModalElement) => el.present());
+
+      // Click trigger to open toast
+      await showToastTrigger.click();
+
+      // Wait for toast to be presented
+      await ionToastDidPresent.next();
+
+      // Verify trigger in overlay is focused
+      await expect(showToastTrigger).toBeFocused();
+
+      // Click a button in the toast and therefore attempt to move focus
+      await toastButton.click();
+
+      // Verify trigger in overlay is still focused
+      await expect(showToastTrigger).toBeFocused();
+    });
+
+    test('focusing toast from a scoped overlay should return focus to the last focused element', async ({
+      page,
+      skip,
+    }) => {
+      test.info().annotations.push({
+        type: 'issue',
+        description: 'https://github.com/ionic-team/ionic-framework/issues/28261',
+      });
+      skip.browser('webkit', 'WebKit does not consider buttons to be focusable');
+
+      await page.setContent(
+        `
+        <ion-action-sheet></ion-action-sheet>
+        <ion-toast></ion-toast>
+
+        <script>
+          const actionSheet = document.querySelector('ion-action-sheet');
+          actionSheet.buttons = [
+            'Other Button',
+            {
+              text: 'Button',
+              id: 'show-toast',
+              handler: () => {
+                document.querySelector('ion-toast').present();
+                return false;
+              }
+            }
+          ];
+
+          const toast = document.querySelector('ion-toast');
+          toast.buttons = ['Ok'];
+       </script>
+       `,
+        config
+      );
+
+      const actionSheet = page.locator('ion-action-sheet');
+      const showToastButton = page.locator('#show-toast');
+
+      const toast = page.locator('ion-toast');
+      const toastButton = toast.locator('button');
+
+      const ionToastDidPresent = await page.spyOnEvent('ionToastDidPresent');
+
+      // Show overlay
+      await actionSheet.evaluate((el: HTMLIonActionSheetElement) => el.present());
+
+      // Click button to open toast
+      await showToastButton.click();
+
+      // Wait for toast to be presented
+      await ionToastDidPresent.next();
+
+      // Verify button in overlay is focused
+      await expect(showToastButton).toBeFocused();
+
+      // Click a button in the toast and therefore attempt to move focus
+      await toastButton.click();
+
+      await page.pause();
+
+      // Verify button in overlay is still focused
+      await expect(showToastButton).toBeFocused();
+    });
     test('should not return focus to another element if focus already manually returned', async ({
       page,
       skip,