diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/apache/druid/client/DirectDruidClient.java b/server/src/main/java/org/apache/druid/client/DirectDruidClient.java
index 60bdde4094d..06976c1a5b4 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/apache/druid/client/DirectDruidClient.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/apache/druid/client/DirectDruidClient.java
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import com.google.common.util.concurrent.Futures;
 import com.google.common.util.concurrent.ListenableFuture;
 import org.apache.druid.java.util.common.RE;
 import org.apache.druid.java.util.common.StringUtils;
+import org.apache.druid.java.util.common.concurrent.Execs;
 import org.apache.druid.java.util.common.guava.BaseSequence;
 import org.apache.druid.java.util.common.guava.CloseQuietly;
 import org.apache.druid.java.util.common.guava.Sequence;
@@ -69,9 +70,10 @@ import java.net.URL;
 import java.util.Enumeration;
 import java.util.concurrent.BlockingQueue;
 import java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;
+import java.util.concurrent.Future;
 import java.util.concurrent.LinkedBlockingQueue;
+import java.util.concurrent.ScheduledExecutorService;
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
-import java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicLong;
@@ -95,6 +97,7 @@ public class DirectDruidClient<T> implements QueryRunner<T>
 
   private final AtomicInteger openConnections;
   private final boolean isSmile;
+  private final ScheduledExecutorService queryCancellationExecutor;
 
   /**
    * Removes the magical fields added by {@link #makeResponseContextForQuery()}.
@@ -131,6 +134,7 @@ public class DirectDruidClient<T> implements QueryRunner<T>
 
     this.isSmile = this.objectMapper.getFactory() instanceof SmileFactory;
     this.openConnections = new AtomicInteger();
+    this.queryCancellationExecutor = Execs.scheduledSingleThreaded("query-cancellation-executor");
   }
 
   public int getNumOpenConnections()
@@ -465,38 +469,12 @@ public class DirectDruidClient<T> implements QueryRunner<T>
             {
               openConnections.getAndDecrement();
               if (future.isCancelled()) {
-                // forward the cancellation to underlying queriable node
-                try {
-                  StatusResponseHolder res = httpClient.go(
-                      new Request(
-                          HttpMethod.DELETE,
-                          new URL(cancelUrl)
-                      ).setContent(objectMapper.writeValueAsBytes(query))
-                       .setHeader(
-                           HttpHeaders.Names.CONTENT_TYPE,
-                           isSmile
-                           ? SmileMediaTypes.APPLICATION_JACKSON_SMILE
-                           : MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON
-                       ),
-                      StatusResponseHandler.getInstance(),
-                      Duration.standardSeconds(1)
-                  ).get(1, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
-
-                  if (res.getStatus().getCode() >= 500) {
-                    throw new RE(
-                        "Error cancelling query[%s]: queriable node returned status[%d] [%s].",
-                        query,
-                        res.getStatus().getCode(),
-                        res.getStatus().getReasonPhrase()
-                    );
-                  }
-                }
-                catch (IOException | ExecutionException | InterruptedException | TimeoutException e) {
-                  throw new RuntimeException(e);
-                }
+                cancelQuery(query, cancelUrl);
               }
             }
-          }
+          },
+          // The callback is non-blocking and quick, so it's OK to schedule it using directExecutor()
+          Execs.directExecutor()
       );
     }
     catch (IOException e) {
@@ -543,6 +521,43 @@ public class DirectDruidClient<T> implements QueryRunner<T>
     return retVal;
   }
 
+  private <T> void cancelQuery(Query<T> query, String cancelUrl)
+  {
+    Runnable cancelRunnable = () -> {
+      try {
+        Future<StatusResponseHolder> responseFuture = httpClient.go(
+            new Request(HttpMethod.DELETE, new URL(cancelUrl))
+            .setContent(objectMapper.writeValueAsBytes(query))
+            .setHeader(HttpHeaders.Names.CONTENT_TYPE, isSmile ? SmileMediaTypes.APPLICATION_JACKSON_SMILE : MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON),
+            StatusResponseHandler.getInstance(),
+            Duration.standardSeconds(1));
+
+        Runnable checkRunnable = () -> {
+          try {
+            if (!responseFuture.isDone()) {
+              log.error("Error cancelling query[%s]", query);
+            }
+            StatusResponseHolder response = responseFuture.get();
+            if (response.getStatus().getCode() >= 500) {
+              log.error("Error cancelling query[%s]: queriable node returned status[%d] [%s].",
+                  query,
+                  response.getStatus().getCode(),
+                  response.getStatus().getReasonPhrase());
+            }
+          }
+          catch (ExecutionException | InterruptedException e) {
+            log.error(e, "Error cancelling query[%s]", query);
+          }
+        };
+        queryCancellationExecutor.schedule(checkRunnable, 5, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
+      }
+      catch (IOException e) {
+        log.error(e, "Error cancelling query[%s]", query);
+      }
+    };
+    queryCancellationExecutor.submit(cancelRunnable);
+  }
+
   @Override
   public String toString()
   {
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/apache/druid/client/DirectDruidClientTest.java b/server/src/test/java/org/apache/druid/client/DirectDruidClientTest.java
index caa549a5b14..6c50249693f 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/apache/druid/client/DirectDruidClientTest.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/apache/druid/client/DirectDruidClientTest.java
@@ -252,7 +252,7 @@ public class DirectDruidClientTest
         )
     )
             .andReturn(cancellationFuture)
-            .once();
+            .anyTimes();
 
     EasyMock.replay(httpClient);
 
@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@ public class DirectDruidClientTest
     query = query.withOverriddenContext(ImmutableMap.of(DirectDruidClient.QUERY_FAIL_TIME, Long.MAX_VALUE));
     cancellationFuture.set(new StatusResponseHolder(HttpResponseStatus.OK, new StringBuilder("cancelled")));
     Sequence results = client.run(QueryPlus.wrap(query));
-    Assert.assertEquals(HttpMethod.DELETE, capturedRequest.getValue().getMethod());
+    Assert.assertEquals(HttpMethod.POST, capturedRequest.getValue().getMethod());
     Assert.assertEquals(0, client.getNumOpenConnections());