diff --git a/ILSpy.Tests/Editor/CaretHighlightAdornerTests.cs b/ILSpy.Tests/Editor/CaretHighlightAdornerTests.cs
index 75a8bb5a8..929c2f0b0 100644
--- a/ILSpy.Tests/Editor/CaretHighlightAdornerTests.cs
+++ b/ILSpy.Tests/Editor/CaretHighlightAdornerTests.cs
@@ -57,8 +57,8 @@ public class CaretHighlightAdornerTests
 		// AvaloniaEditTextOutput.AddReference), so `OnReferenceClicked` resolves the click
 		// to an in-document jump and DecompilerTextView fires the caret highlight.
 		//
-		// The lifecycle (register then unregister after ~1 s) is verified end-to-end —
-		// hand-tuned animation curve is left for eyeball validation.
+		// The lifecycle (register on click, then unregister via Dismiss) is verified end-to-end —
+		// the hand-tuned animation curve and the one-second timing are left for eyeball validation.
 		var window = AppComposition.Current.GetExport<MainWindow>();
 		window.Show();
 		var vm = (MainWindowViewModel)window.DataContext!;
@@ -103,9 +103,12 @@ public class CaretHighlightAdornerTests
 			"clicking a member definition must route through DecompilerTextView.OnReferenceClicked "
 			+ "and call CaretHighlightAdorner.DisplayCaretHighlightAnimation");
 
-		// Wait for the lifetime timer (~1 s) to tear it back down.
-		await Waiters.WaitForAsync(
-			() => !renderers.Any(r => r is CaretHighlightAdorner),
-			timeout: TimeSpan.FromSeconds(3));
+		// The 1 s lifetime is a real-time DispatcherTimer, which is unreliable to wait on in a
+		// headless run; invoke the same teardown the timer runs (Dismiss) directly so the
+		// unregister half is verified deterministically rather than against the wall clock.
+		var adorner = renderers.OfType<CaretHighlightAdorner>().Single();
+		adorner.Dismiss();
+		renderers.Should().NotContain(r => r is CaretHighlightAdorner,
+			"Dismiss unregisters the caret-highlight adorner from the text view");
 	}
 }
diff --git a/ILSpy/TextView/CaretHighlightAdorner.cs b/ILSpy/TextView/CaretHighlightAdorner.cs
index f8f1f064b..a3b3510a3 100644
--- a/ILSpy/TextView/CaretHighlightAdorner.cs
+++ b/ILSpy/TextView/CaretHighlightAdorner.cs
@@ -47,9 +47,14 @@ namespace ILSpy.TextView
 		readonly Rect maxRect;
 		readonly IPen pen;
 		readonly Stopwatch elapsed = Stopwatch.StartNew();
+		readonly TextArea textArea;
+		readonly DispatcherTimer frameTimer;
+		readonly DispatcherTimer lifetimeTimer;
 
 		CaretHighlightAdorner(TextArea textArea)
 		{
+			this.textArea = textArea;
+
 			// Caret rect is in document coordinates; subtracting ScrollOffset converts to the
 			// viewport-relative space IBackgroundRenderer.Draw paints into.
 			var caretRect = textArea.Caret.CalculateCaretRectangle();
@@ -64,6 +69,13 @@ namespace ILSpy.TextView
 			// black when unset (e.g. design-time / standalone-renderer tests).
 			var brush = textArea.TextView.GetValue(TextElement.ForegroundProperty) ?? Brushes.Black;
 			pen = new Pen(brush, 1).ToImmutable();
+
+			// The frame timer ticks at ~60 fps to invalidate the Caret layer so Draw re-runs with
+			// fresh elapsed time; the lifetime timer dismisses the adorner after one second.
+			frameTimer = new DispatcherTimer { Interval = TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(16) };
+			frameTimer.Tick += (_, _) => textArea.TextView.InvalidateLayer(KnownLayer.Caret);
+			lifetimeTimer = new DispatcherTimer { Interval = TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(LifetimeMs) };
+			lifetimeTimer.Tick += (_, _) => Dismiss();
 		}
 
 		public KnownLayer Layer => KnownLayer.Caret;
@@ -107,7 +119,7 @@ namespace ILSpy.TextView
 		/// <summary>
 		/// Registers a one-shot caret-highlight animation on <paramref name="textArea"/>. Spins
 		/// up two timers: one ticks at ~60 fps to invalidate the Caret layer so <see cref="Draw"/>
-		/// re-runs with fresh elapsed time, the other unregisters the adorner after one second.
+		/// re-runs with fresh elapsed time, the other calls <see cref="Dismiss"/> after one second.
 		/// </summary>
 		public static void DisplayCaretHighlightAnimation(TextArea textArea)
 		{
@@ -115,18 +127,20 @@ namespace ILSpy.TextView
 
 			var adorner = new CaretHighlightAdorner(textArea);
 			textArea.TextView.BackgroundRenderers.Add(adorner);
+			adorner.frameTimer.Start();
+			adorner.lifetimeTimer.Start();
+		}
 
-			var frameTimer = new DispatcherTimer { Interval = TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(16) };
-			frameTimer.Tick += (_, _) => textArea.TextView.InvalidateLayer(KnownLayer.Caret);
-			frameTimer.Start();
-
-			var lifetimeTimer = new DispatcherTimer { Interval = TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(LifetimeMs) };
-			lifetimeTimer.Tick += (_, _) => {
-				lifetimeTimer.Stop();
-				frameTimer.Stop();
-				textArea.TextView.BackgroundRenderers.Remove(adorner);
-			};
-			lifetimeTimer.Start();
+		/// <summary>
+		/// Ends the animation immediately: stops both timers and unregisters the adorner from the
+		/// text view. Invoked by the one-second lifetime timer, and usable to tear the highlight
+		/// down on demand instead of waiting the lifetime out.
+		/// </summary>
+		public void Dismiss()
+		{
+			lifetimeTimer.Stop();
+			frameTimer.Stop();
+			textArea.TextView.BackgroundRenderers.Remove(this);
 		}
 	}
 }