diff --git a/datafusion/physical-plan/src/execution_plan.rs b/datafusion/physical-plan/src/execution_plan.rs
index b55d3c32cb56..50eac566d90e 100644
--- a/datafusion/physical-plan/src/execution_plan.rs
+++ b/datafusion/physical-plan/src/execution_plan.rs
@@ -115,6 +115,30 @@ pub trait ExecutionPlan: Any + Debug + DisplayAs + Send + Sync {
         }
     }
 
+    /// Returns the plan that provides this plan's public
+    /// [`ExecutionPlan`] downcast identity.
+    ///
+    /// This hook is for wrapper nodes that delegate their public downcast
+    /// identity to another plan while adding cross-cutting behavior such as
+    /// instrumentation. The default implementation returns `None`, meaning this
+    /// plan's concrete type is used for type introspection.
+    ///
+    /// Most `ExecutionPlan` implementations should use the default `None`;
+    /// override this only for wrapper plans that intentionally delegate their
+    /// public downcast identity to another plan.
+    ///
+    /// The `is` and `downcast_ref` helpers follow the returned delegate instead
+    /// of checking the current concrete type, making intermediate delegating
+    /// wrappers invisible to normal downcast-based inspection.
+    ///
+    /// Implementations that opt in should return the delegate plan, not `self`.
+    ///
+    /// This is independent from [`Self::children`] and should not be used for
+    /// plan traversal or optimizer rewrites.
+    fn downcast_delegate(&self) -> Option<&dyn ExecutionPlan> {
+        None
+    }
+
     /// Get the schema for this execution plan
     fn schema(&self) -> SchemaRef {
         Arc::clone(self.properties().schema())
@@ -718,20 +742,32 @@ pub trait ExecutionPlan: Any + Debug + DisplayAs + Send + Sync {
 impl dyn ExecutionPlan {
     /// Returns `true` if the plan is of type `T`.
     ///
+    /// If this plan provides a [`ExecutionPlan::downcast_delegate`], delegates
+    /// to it.
+    ///
     /// Prefer this over `downcast_ref::<T>().is_some()`. Works correctly when
     /// called on `Arc<dyn ExecutionPlan>` via auto-deref.
     pub fn is<T: ExecutionPlan>(&self) -> bool {
-        (self as &dyn Any).is::<T>()
+        match self.downcast_delegate() {
+            Some(delegate) => delegate.is::<T>(),
+            None => (self as &dyn Any).is::<T>(),
+        }
     }
 
     /// Attempts to downcast this plan to a concrete type `T`, returning `None`
     /// if the plan is not of that type.
     ///
+    /// If this plan provides a [`ExecutionPlan::downcast_delegate`], delegates
+    /// to it.
+    ///
     /// Works correctly when called on `Arc<dyn ExecutionPlan>` via auto-deref,
     /// unlike `(&arc as &dyn Any).downcast_ref::<T>()` which would attempt to
     /// downcast the `Arc` itself.
     pub fn downcast_ref<T: ExecutionPlan>(&self) -> Option<&T> {
-        (self as &dyn Any).downcast_ref()
+        match self.downcast_delegate() {
+            Some(delegate) => delegate.downcast_ref::<T>(),
+            None => (self as &dyn Any).downcast_ref(),
+        }
     }
 }
 
@@ -1642,6 +1678,58 @@ mod tests {
         }
     }
 
+    #[derive(Debug)]
+    struct DowncastDelegatingExec(Arc<dyn ExecutionPlan>);
+
+    impl DisplayAs for DowncastDelegatingExec {
+        fn fmt_as(
+            &self,
+            _t: DisplayFormatType,
+            _f: &mut std::fmt::Formatter,
+        ) -> std::fmt::Result {
+            unimplemented!()
+        }
+    }
+
+    impl ExecutionPlan for DowncastDelegatingExec {
+        fn name(&self) -> &'static str {
+            Self::static_name()
+        }
+
+        fn properties(&self) -> &Arc<PlanProperties> {
+            unimplemented!()
+        }
+
+        fn children(&self) -> Vec<&Arc<dyn ExecutionPlan>> {
+            vec![]
+        }
+
+        fn with_new_children(
+            self: Arc<Self>,
+            _: Vec<Arc<dyn ExecutionPlan>>,
+        ) -> Result<Arc<dyn ExecutionPlan>> {
+            unimplemented!()
+        }
+
+        fn downcast_delegate(&self) -> Option<&dyn ExecutionPlan> {
+            Some(self.0.as_ref())
+        }
+
+        fn execute(
+            &self,
+            _partition: usize,
+            _context: Arc<TaskContext>,
+        ) -> Result<SendableRecordBatchStream> {
+            unimplemented!()
+        }
+
+        fn partition_statistics(
+            &self,
+            _partition: Option<usize>,
+        ) -> Result<Arc<Statistics>> {
+            unimplemented!()
+        }
+    }
     #[test]
     fn test_execution_plan_name() {
         let schema1 = Arc::new(Schema::empty());
@@ -1654,6 +1742,24 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(RenamedEmptyExec::static_name(), "MyRenamedEmptyExec");
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn test_execution_plan_downcast_delegates_to_downcast_delegate() {
+        let schema = Arc::new(Schema::empty());
+        let inner: Arc<dyn ExecutionPlan> = Arc::new(EmptyExec::new(schema));
+        let wrapped: Arc<dyn ExecutionPlan> = Arc::new(DowncastDelegatingExec(inner));
+        let nested: Arc<dyn ExecutionPlan> =
+            Arc::new(DowncastDelegatingExec(Arc::clone(&wrapped)));
+
+        for plan in [wrapped.as_ref(), nested.as_ref()] {
+            assert!(!plan.is::<DowncastDelegatingExec>());
+            assert!(plan.downcast_ref::<DowncastDelegatingExec>().is_none());
+            assert!(plan.is::<EmptyExec>());
+            assert!(plan.downcast_ref::<EmptyExec>().is_some());
+            assert!(!plan.is::<RenamedEmptyExec>());
+            assert!(plan.downcast_ref::<RenamedEmptyExec>().is_none());
+        }
+    }
+
     /// A compilation test to ensure that the `ExecutionPlan::name()` method can
     /// be called from a trait object.
     /// Related ticket: https://github.com/apache/datafusion/pull/11047