diff --git a/src-tauri/src/player/mod.rs b/src-tauri/src/player/mod.rs
index 0c4bd814..a5857ab3 100644
--- a/src-tauri/src/player/mod.rs
+++ b/src-tauri/src/player/mod.rs
@@ -243,6 +243,23 @@ impl PlayerController {
         self.end_reason.lock_safe().take()
     }
 
+    /// Record that playback is being stopped by an expiring sleep timer.
+    ///
+    /// Stopping the backend makes it fire its ended callback (ExoPlayer does on
+    /// Android), which lands in `on_playback_ended`. Without an end reason that
+    /// reads as a natural finish and autoplay advances — defeating the timer.
+    /// `UserStop` is the honest label: the stop was user-initiated, just via the
+    /// timer they set rather than the stop button.
+    ///
+    /// Takes the shared slot rather than `&self` so the sleep-timer thread —
+    /// which owns clones, not the controller — records it the same way.
+    ///
+    /// TRACES: UR-023, UR-026 | DR-029
+    fn note_sleep_timer_stop(end_reason: &Arc<Mutex<Option<EndReason>>>) {
+        log::debug!("[PlayerController] Sleep timer stop: marking end reason UserStop");
+        *end_reason.lock_safe() = Some(EndReason::UserStop);
+    }
+
     /// Increment autoplay episode counter. Returns true if limit is reached.
     fn increment_autoplay_count(&self) -> bool {
         let max = self.autoplay_settings.lock_safe().max_episodes;
@@ -767,6 +784,7 @@ impl PlayerController {
         let sleep_timer = self.sleep_timer.clone();
         let event_emitter = self.event_emitter.clone();
         let backend = self.backend.clone();
+        let end_reason = self.end_reason.clone();
 
         std::thread::spawn(move || {
             loop {
@@ -783,6 +801,14 @@ impl PlayerController {
                         debug!("[SleepTimer] Time-based timer expired, stopping playback");
                         timer.cancel();
 
+                        // Mark the stop *before* it reaches the backend. Stopping
+                        // makes the native player fire its ended callback, and
+                        // cancelling the timer above means on_playback_ended can no
+                        // longer tell this apart from a natural end — without this
+                        // it would show the next-episode popup / autoplay right
+                        // after the sleep timer fired.
+                        Self::note_sleep_timer_stop(&end_reason);
+
                         // Emit cancelled state
                         if let Some(emitter) = event_emitter.lock_safe().as_ref() {
                             emitter.emit(PlayerStatusEvent::SleepTimerChanged {
@@ -2040,6 +2066,51 @@ mod tests {
         }
     }
 
+    /// A time-based sleep timer that fires mid-episode must not let the ended
+    /// callback fall through to autoplay.
+    ///
+    /// The timer thread stops the backend directly, which makes ExoPlayer emit
+    /// its ended callback. That callback races the thread's own `timer.cancel()`:
+    /// by the time `on_playback_ended` inspects the sleep timer it reads `Off`,
+    /// so the timer branch is skipped and the episode path runs — showing a
+    /// next-episode popup (or advancing) after the user's sleep timer expired.
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn test_expired_time_sleep_timer_stops_without_autoplay() {
+        let controller = PlayerController::default();
+
+        let items = create_test_items(3);
+        controller.play_queue(items, 0).unwrap();
+        controller.take_end_reason();
+
+        // Arm a time-based timer that is already due, then let the real timer
+        // thread (started in the constructor, 1s tick) observe the expiry and
+        // run its stop path. Driving the actual thread is the point: the bug was
+        // that this path stopped the backend without recording an end reason.
+        let now = chrono::Utc::now().timestamp_millis();
+        controller.set_sleep_timer(SleepTimerMode::Time { end_time: now });
+
+        // Wait for the timer thread to process the expiry (tick is 1s).
+        for _ in 0..40 {
+            tokio::time::sleep(std::time::Duration::from_millis(100)).await;
+            if !controller.sleep_timer.lock_safe().is_active() {
+                break;
+            }
+        }
+        assert!(
+            !controller.sleep_timer.lock_safe().is_active(),
+            "Timer thread should have expired and cancelled the sleep timer"
+        );
+
+        // The backend stop above makes the native player fire its ended callback.
+        let decision = controller.on_playback_ended().await.unwrap();
+
+        assert!(
+            matches!(decision, AutoplayDecision::Stop),
+            "Expected Stop after an expired time-based sleep timer, got {:?}",
+            decision
+        );
+    }
+
     #[tokio::test]
     async fn test_empty_queue_stops() {
         let controller = PlayerController::default();