diff --git a/cpp/src/io/parquet/experimental/variant_extract.cu b/cpp/src/io/parquet/experimental/variant_extract.cu
index f463230489b5..8327e6c5cde1 100644
--- a/cpp/src/io/parquet/experimental/variant_extract.cu
+++ b/cpp/src/io/parquet/experimental/variant_extract.cu
@@ -723,12 +723,10 @@ struct cast_variant_fn {
     requires(is_variant_numerical<T>)
   {
     rmm::device_buffer data{num_rows * sizeof(T), stream, mr};
-
     auto grid = cudf::detail::grid_1d{num_rows, block_size};
     cast_variant_primitive_kernel<T><<<grid.num_blocks, block_size, 0, stream.value()>>>(
       values, {static_cast<T*>(data.data()), static_cast<std::size_t>(num_rows)}, d_null_mask);
     CUDF_CUDA_TRY(cudaGetLastError());
-
     auto const null_count =
       num_rows - cudf::detail::count_set_bits(d_null_mask, 0, num_rows, stream);
     return std::make_unique<column>(desired_type,
@@ -774,7 +772,6 @@ struct cast_variant_fn {
     cast_variant_string_fn fn{values, d_null_mask, nullptr, nullptr, {}};
     auto [offsets_column, chars] =
       cudf::strings::detail::make_strings_children(fn, num_rows, stream, mr);
-
     auto const null_count =
       num_rows - cudf::detail::count_set_bits(d_null_mask, 0, num_rows, stream);
     return make_strings_column(num_rows,
@@ -926,6 +923,19 @@ std::unique_ptr<column> cast_variant(column_view const& values,
                                      rmm::device_async_resource_ref mr)
 {
   validate_variant_child(values);
+
+  switch (desired_type.id()) {
+    case type_id::INT8:
+    case type_id::INT16:
+    case type_id::INT32:
+    case type_id::INT64:
+    case type_id::FLOAT32:
+    case type_id::FLOAT64:
+    case type_id::BOOL8:
+    case type_id::STRING: break;
+    default: CUDF_FAIL("unsupported type for variant cast", std::invalid_argument);
+  }
+
   size_type const num_rows = values.size();
   if (num_rows == 0) { return make_empty_column(desired_type); }
 
diff --git a/cpp/tests/io/experimental/variant_extract_test.cpp b/cpp/tests/io/experimental/variant_extract_test.cpp
index e810bbe142a0..03c334f250e4 100644
--- a/cpp/tests/io/experimental/variant_extract_test.cpp
+++ b/cpp/tests/io/experimental/variant_extract_test.cpp
@@ -18,8 +18,10 @@
 #include <cudf/utilities/span.hpp>
 
 #include <array>
+#include <bit>
 #include <cstdio>
 #include <cstring>
+#include <format>
 #include <memory>
 #include <string>
 #include <vector>
@@ -1112,14 +1114,10 @@ TEST_F(CastVariantTest, EmptyInput)
   }
 }
 
-TEST_F(CastVariantTest, CastToUnsupportedTargetThrows)
+TEST_F(CastVariantTest, UnsupportedTypeThrows)
 {
-  // cast_variant only supports INT8/16/32/64 and STRING targets. Every other target is rejected at
-  // compile-time dispatch on the requested output type, independent of the input bytes, so a single
-  // well-formed placeholder row triggers the same throw for all of them.
+  // Unsupported target types must throw regardless of whether the input is empty or non-empty.
   auto stream = cudf::test::get_default_stream();
-  std::vector<uint8_t> const val{make_variant_primitive(variant_primitive_type::NULLVAL)};
-  cudf::test::lists_column_wrapper<uint8_t> values(val.begin(), val.end());
 
   std::vector<cudf::type_id> const ids{cudf::type_id::UINT8,
                                        cudf::type_id::UINT16,
@@ -1133,11 +1131,24 @@ TEST_F(CastVariantTest, CastToUnsupportedTargetThrows)
                                        cudf::type_id::DECIMAL64,
                                        cudf::type_id::DECIMAL128};
 
+  // Empty input: the early-return path must still validate the type.
+  auto const empty_values =
+    cudf::empty_like(cudf::structs_column_view{make_xyz_three_row_variant()}.child(1));
   for (auto const id : ids) {
-    SCOPED_TRACE(std::string{"target type_id: "} + std::to_string(static_cast<int32_t>(id)));
     EXPECT_THROW(static_cast<void>(cudf::io::parquet::experimental::cast_variant(
-                   values, cudf::data_type{id}, stream)),
-                 std::invalid_argument);
+                   *empty_values, cudf::data_type{id}, stream)),
+                 std::invalid_argument)
+      << std::format("expected throw for type_id {} on empty input", static_cast<int>(id));
+  }
+
+  // Non-empty input: the dispatch path must also throw for unsupported types.
+  auto col         = make_apache_variant(avf::primitive_int32);
+  auto const value = cudf::structs_column_view{col}.get_sliced_child(1, stream);
+  for (auto const id : ids) {
+    EXPECT_THROW(static_cast<void>(cudf::io::parquet::experimental::cast_variant(
+                   value, cudf::data_type{id}, stream)),
+                 std::invalid_argument)
+      << std::format("expected throw for type_id {} on non-empty input", static_cast<int>(id));
   }
 }