diff --git a/BossMod/AI/AIController.cs b/BossMod/AI/AIController.cs
index fb48d516c7..1c7d08adaa 100644
--- a/BossMod/AI/AIController.cs
+++ b/BossMod/AI/AIController.cs
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ public void Update(Actor? player)
         else
         {
             _amex.InputOverride.GamepadOverridesEnabled = false;
-            _axisForward.CurDirection = ForceCancelCast && castInProgress ? 1 : 0; // this is a hack to cancel any cast...
+            _amex.ForceCancelCastNextFrame |= ForceCancelCast && castInProgress;
             _keyJump.Held = false;
         }
 
diff --git a/BossMod/ActionTweaks/ActionTweaksConfig.cs b/BossMod/ActionTweaks/ActionTweaksConfig.cs
index 0539914d97..e452729a41 100644
--- a/BossMod/ActionTweaks/ActionTweaksConfig.cs
+++ b/BossMod/ActionTweaks/ActionTweaksConfig.cs
@@ -13,6 +13,9 @@ public sealed class ActionTweaksConfig : ConfigNode
     [PropertyDisplay("Prevent movement while casting")]
     public bool PreventMovingWhileCasting = false;
 
+    [PropertyDisplay("Automatically cancel a cast when target is dead")]
+    public bool CancelCastOnDeadTarget = false;
+
     [PropertyDisplay("Restore character orientation after action use (no effect if 'auto face target' in game settings is disabled)")]
     public bool RestoreRotation = false;
 
diff --git a/BossMod/ActionTweaks/CancelCastTweak.cs b/BossMod/ActionTweaks/CancelCastTweak.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..69c4230cf7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/BossMod/ActionTweaks/CancelCastTweak.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+namespace BossMod;
+
+// Utility for automatically cancelling casts in some conditions (when target dies, when ai wants it, etc).
+// Since the game API is sending a packet, this implements some rate limiting.
+public sealed class CancelCastTweak(WorldState ws)
+{
+    private readonly ActionTweaksConfig _config = Service.Config.Get<ActionTweaksConfig>();
+    private readonly WorldState _ws = ws;
+    private DateTime _nextCancelAllowed;
+
+    public bool ShouldCancel(DateTime currentTime, bool force)
+    {
+        if (currentTime < _nextCancelAllowed)
+            return false;
+
+        var cancel = force || _config.CancelCastOnDeadTarget && (_ws.Actors.Find(_ws.Party.Player()?.CastInfo?.TargetID ?? 0)?.IsDead ?? false);
+        if (!cancel)
+            return false;
+
+        _nextCancelAllowed = currentTime.AddSeconds(0.2f);
+        return true;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/BossMod/Autorotation/UIRotationWindow.cs b/BossMod/Autorotation/UIRotationWindow.cs
index da45389c06..658df10bc5 100644
--- a/BossMod/Autorotation/UIRotationWindow.cs
+++ b/BossMod/Autorotation/UIRotationWindow.cs
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ public override void Draw()
 
         // TODO: more fancy action history/queue...
         ImGui.TextUnformatted($"Modules: {_mgr}");
-        ImGui.TextUnformatted($"GCD={_mgr.WorldState.Client.Cooldowns[ActionDefinitions.GCDGroup].Remaining:f3}, AnimLock={_mgr.ActionManager.EffectiveAnimationLock:f3}+{_mgr.ActionManager.AnimationLockDelayEstimate:f3}, Combo={_mgr.ActionManager.ComboTimeLeft:f3}");
+        ImGui.TextUnformatted($"GCD={_mgr.WorldState.Client.Cooldowns[ActionDefinitions.GCDGroup].Remaining:f3}, AnimLock={_mgr.ActionManager.EffectiveAnimationLock:f3}+{_mgr.ActionManager.AnimationLockDelayEstimate:f3}, Combo={_mgr.ActionManager.ComboTimeLeft:f3}, RBIn={_mgr.Bossmods.RaidCooldowns.NextDamageBuffIn(_mgr.WorldState.CurrentTime):f3}");
         foreach (var a in _mgr.Hints.ActionsToExecute.Entries)
         {
             ImGui.TextUnformatted($"> {a.Action} ({a.Priority:f2})");
diff --git a/BossMod/Framework/ActionManagerEx.cs b/BossMod/Framework/ActionManagerEx.cs
index 5d0297dfb3..517e61970a 100644
--- a/BossMod/Framework/ActionManagerEx.cs
+++ b/BossMod/Framework/ActionManagerEx.cs
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ namespace BossMod;
 // 6. ground-targeted action queueing
 //    ground-targeted actions can't be queued, making using them efficiently tricky
 //    this feature allows queueing them, plus provides options to execute them automatically either at target's position or at cursor's position
+// 7. auto cancel cast utility
 // TODO: should not be public!
 public unsafe sealed class ActionManagerEx : IDisposable
 {
@@ -44,6 +45,7 @@ public unsafe sealed class ActionManagerEx : IDisposable
     public ActionTweaksConfig Config = Service.Config.Get<ActionTweaksConfig>();
     public ActionQueue.Entry AutoQueue { get; private set; }
     public bool MoveMightInterruptCast { get; private set; } // if true, moving now might cause cast interruption (for current or queued cast)
+    public bool ForceCancelCastNextFrame;
     private readonly ActionManager* _inst = ActionManager.Instance();
     private readonly WorldState _ws;
     private readonly AIHints _hints;
@@ -51,6 +53,7 @@ public unsafe sealed class ActionManagerEx : IDisposable
     private readonly AnimationLockTweak _animLockTweak = new();
     private readonly CooldownDelayTweak _cooldownTweak = new();
     private readonly RestoreRotationTweak _restoreRotTweak = new();
+    private readonly CancelCastTweak _cancelCastTweak;
 
     private readonly HookAddress<ActionManager.Delegates.Update> _updateHook;
     private readonly HookAddress<ActionManager.Delegates.UseAction> _useActionHook;
@@ -63,6 +66,7 @@ public ActionManagerEx(WorldState ws, AIHints hints)
         _ws = ws;
         _hints = hints;
         _manualQueue = new(ws, hints);
+        _cancelCastTweak = new(ws);
 
         Service.Log($"[AMEx] ActionManager singleton address = 0x{(ulong)_inst:X}");
         _updateHook = new(ActionManager.Addresses.Update, UpdateDetour);
@@ -279,6 +283,10 @@ private void UpdateDetour(ActionManager* self)
             InputOverride.BlockMovement();
         else
             InputOverride.UnblockMovement();
+
+        if (_ws.Party.Player()?.CastInfo != null && _cancelCastTweak.ShouldCancel(_ws.CurrentTime, ForceCancelCastNextFrame))
+            UIState.Instance()->Hotbar.CancelCast();
+        ForceCancelCastNextFrame = false;
     }
 
     // note: targetId is usually your current primary target (or 0xE0000000 if you don't target anyone), unless you do something like /ac XXX <f> etc