diff --git a/client/schemas/pyrightconfig.schema.json b/client/schemas/pyrightconfig.schema.json
index 2ea02c3af..3b90b2010 100644
--- a/client/schemas/pyrightconfig.schema.json
+++ b/client/schemas/pyrightconfig.schema.json
@@ -246,6 +246,12 @@
       "title": "Controls reporting calls to 'isinstance' where the result is statically determined to be always true or false",
       "default": "none"
     },
+    "reportUnnecessaryCast": {
+      "$id": "#/properties/reportUnnecessaryCast",
+      "$ref": "#/definitions/diagnostic",
+      "title": "Controls reporting calls to 'cast' that are unnecessary",
+      "default": "none"
+    },
     "pythonVersion": {
       "$id": "#/properties/pythonVersion",
       "type": "string",
diff --git a/docs/configuration.md b/docs/configuration.md
index 6d5533a4c..7e1fe77ff 100644
--- a/docs/configuration.md
+++ b/docs/configuration.md
@@ -90,6 +90,8 @@ The following settings control pyright's diagnostic output (warnings or errors).
 
 **reportUnnecessaryIsInstance** [boolean or string, optional]: Generate or suppress diagnostics for 'isinstance' calls where the result is statically determined to be always true or always false. Such calls are often indicative of a programming error. The default value for this setting is 'none'.
 
+**reportUnnecessaryCast** [boolean or string, optional]: Generate or suppress diagnostics for 'cast' calls that are statically determined to be unnecessary. Such calls are sometimes indicative of a programming error. The default value for this setting is 'none'.
+
 
 ## Execution Environment Options
 Pyright allows multiple “execution environments” to be defined for different portions of your source tree. For example, a subtree may be designed to run with different import search paths or a different version of the python interpreter than the rest of the source base.
diff --git a/server/src/analyzer/expressionEvaluator.ts b/server/src/analyzer/expressionEvaluator.ts
index abcd0fc03..1b5679ac7 100644
--- a/server/src/analyzer/expressionEvaluator.ts
+++ b/server/src/analyzer/expressionEvaluator.ts
@@ -1576,6 +1576,20 @@ export class ExpressionEvaluator {
             const functionType = this._findOverloadedFunctionType(errorNode, argList, callType);
 
             if (functionType) {
+                if (functionType.getBuiltInName() === 'cast' && argList.length === 2) {
+                    // Verify that the cast is necessary.
+                    const castToType = argList[0].type;
+                    const castFromType = argList[1].type;
+                    if (castToType instanceof ClassType && castFromType instanceof ObjectType) {
+                        if (castToType.isSame(castFromType.getClassType())) {
+                            this._addDiagnostic(
+                                this._fileInfo.diagnosticSettings.reportUnnecessaryCast,
+                                `Unnecessary call to cast: type is already ${ castFromType.asString() }`,
+                                errorNode);
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+
                 type = this._validateCallArguments(errorNode, argList, callType,
                     new TypeVarMap(), specializeReturnType);
                 if (!type) {
diff --git a/server/src/common/configOptions.ts b/server/src/common/configOptions.ts
index f583a944d..f846e9b2f 100644
--- a/server/src/common/configOptions.ts
+++ b/server/src/common/configOptions.ts
@@ -135,6 +135,10 @@ export interface DiagnosticSettings {
     // Report calls to isinstance that are statically determined
     // to always be true or false.
     reportUnnecessaryIsInstance: DiagnosticLevel;
+
+    // Report calls to cast that are statically determined
+    // to always unnecessary.
+    reportUnnecessaryCast: DiagnosticLevel;
 }
 
 export function cloneDiagnosticSettings(
@@ -180,7 +184,8 @@ export function getDiagLevelSettings() {
         'reportUnknownVariableType',
         'reportUnknownMemberType',
         'reportCallInDefaultInitializer',
-        'reportUnnecessaryIsInstance'
+        'reportUnnecessaryIsInstance',
+        'reportUnnecessaryCast'
     ];
 }
 
@@ -215,7 +220,8 @@ export function getStrictDiagnosticSettings(): DiagnosticSettings {
         reportUnknownVariableType: 'error',
         reportUnknownMemberType: 'error',
         reportCallInDefaultInitializer: 'none',
-        reportUnnecessaryIsInstance: 'error'
+        reportUnnecessaryIsInstance: 'error',
+        reportUnnecessaryCast: 'error'
     };
 
     return diagSettings;
@@ -252,7 +258,8 @@ export function getDefaultDiagnosticSettings(): DiagnosticSettings {
         reportUnknownVariableType: 'none',
         reportUnknownMemberType: 'none',
         reportCallInDefaultInitializer: 'none',
-        reportUnnecessaryIsInstance: 'none'
+        reportUnnecessaryIsInstance: 'none',
+        reportUnnecessaryCast: 'none'
     };
 
     return diagSettings;
@@ -581,7 +588,12 @@ export class ConfigOptions {
             // Read the "reportUnnecessaryIsInstance" entry.
             reportUnnecessaryIsInstance: this._convertDiagnosticLevel(
                 configObj.reportUnnecessaryIsInstance, 'reportUnnecessaryIsInstance',
-                defaultSettings.reportUnnecessaryIsInstance)
+                defaultSettings.reportUnnecessaryIsInstance),
+
+            // Read the "reportUnnecessaryCast" entry.
+            reportUnnecessaryCast: this._convertDiagnosticLevel(
+                configObj.reportUnnecessaryCast, 'reportUnnecessaryCast',
+                defaultSettings.reportUnnecessaryCast)
         };
 
         // Read the "venvPath".
diff --git a/server/src/tests/samples/unnecessaryCast1.py b/server/src/tests/samples/unnecessaryCast1.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..97dcc7e17
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/src/tests/samples/unnecessaryCast1.py
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+# This sample tests the type checker's reoprtUnnecessaryCast feature.
+
+from typing import cast, Union
+
+a = 3
+# This should generate an error if
+# reportUnneessaryCast is enabled.
+b = cast(int, a)
+
+c: Union[int, str] = 'hello'
+d = cast(int, c)
+
+
+
+
diff --git a/server/src/tests/typeAnalyzer.test.ts b/server/src/tests/typeAnalyzer.test.ts
index c4506efb7..db3240857 100644
--- a/server/src/tests/typeAnalyzer.test.ts
+++ b/server/src/tests/typeAnalyzer.test.ts
@@ -547,3 +547,15 @@ test('Unbound1', () => {
 
     validateResults(analysisResults, 1);
 });
+
+test('UnnecessaryCast', () => {
+    const configOptions = new ConfigOptions('.');
+
+    let analysisResults = TestUtils.typeAnalyzeSampleFiles(['unnecessaryCast1.py'], configOptions);
+    validateResults(analysisResults, 0);
+
+    // Turn on errors.
+    configOptions.diagnosticSettings.reportUnnecessaryCast = 'error';
+    analysisResults = TestUtils.typeAnalyzeSampleFiles(['unnecessaryCast1.py'], configOptions);
+    validateResults(analysisResults, 1);
+});