Example apparatus and methods for optimized route invalidation using modified no-path Destination Oriented Directed Acyclic Graph Advertisement Object (DAO) signaling are disclosed. In one example method, a node switching its current parent is adapted to send a regular DAO message. Using the changed signaling, a common ancestor node generates a No-Path destination oriented directed acyclic graph advertisement object message (NPDAO) on behalf of the switching node on receiving a refreshed DAO from an alternate path. The common ancestor node reuses a same Path Sequence from the regular DAO based on which the NPDAO gets generated. The common ancestor node detects routing anomaly using next hop mismatch on reception of the DAO to generate the NPDAO on behalf of the target node. The No-Path DAO traverses downward/downstream along the previous path.