diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/json/chunker.cc b/cpp/src/arrow/json/chunker.cc
index bba3491da8d..1ce3dcc171e 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/json/chunker.cc
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/json/chunker.cc
@@ -125,13 +125,12 @@ namespace {
 class ParsingBoundaryFinder : public BoundaryFinder {
  public:
   Status FindFirst(string_view partial, string_view block, int64_t* out_pos) override {
-    // NOTE: We could bubble up JSON parse errors here, but the actual parsing
-    // step will detect them later anyway.
     auto length = ConsumeWholeObject(MultiStringStream({partial, block}));
     if (length == string_view::npos) {
       *out_pos = -1;
+    } else if (ARROW_PREDICT_FALSE(length < partial.size())) {
+      return Status::Invalid("JSON chunk error: invalid data at end of document");
     } else {
-      DCHECK_GE(length, partial.size());
       DCHECK_LE(length, partial.size() + block.size());
       *out_pos = static_cast<int64_t>(length - partial.size());
     }
diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/json/chunker_test.cc b/cpp/src/arrow/json/chunker_test.cc
index ed1328fa601..1c26d52b140 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/json/chunker_test.cc
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/json/chunker_test.cc
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 #include <string_view>
 #include <vector>
 
+#include <gmock/gmock-matchers.h>
 #include <gtest/gtest.h>
 
 #include "arrow/buffer.h"
@@ -261,6 +262,20 @@ TEST(ChunkerTest, StraddlingSingleLine) {
   AssertStraddledChunking(*chunker, join(lines(), ""));
 }
 
+TEST(ChunkerTest, Errors) {
+  std::string parts[] = {R"({"a":0})", "}", R"({"a":1})"};
+  auto chunker = MakeChunker(true);
+  std::shared_ptr<Buffer> whole, rest, completion;
+  ASSERT_OK(chunker->Process(Buffer::FromString(parts[0] + parts[1]), &whole, &rest));
+  ASSERT_EQ(std::string_view(*whole), parts[0]);
+  ASSERT_EQ(std::string_view(*rest), parts[1]);
+  auto status =
+      chunker->ProcessWithPartial(rest, Buffer::FromString(parts[2]), &completion, &rest);
+  ASSERT_RAISES(Invalid, status);
+  EXPECT_THAT(status.message(),
+              ::testing::StartsWith("JSON chunk error: invalid data at end of document"));
+}
+
 TEST_P(BaseChunkerTest, StraddlingEmpty) {
   auto all = join(lines(), "\n");
 
diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/json/parser.cc b/cpp/src/arrow/json/parser.cc
index 31a707520c6..e2941a29ab9 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/json/parser.cc
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/json/parser.cc
@@ -762,7 +762,7 @@ class HandlerBase : public BlockParser,
 
  protected:
   template <typename Handler, typename Stream>
-  Status DoParse(Handler& handler, Stream&& json) {
+  Status DoParse(Handler& handler, Stream&& json, size_t json_size) {
     constexpr auto parse_flags = rj::kParseIterativeFlag | rj::kParseNanAndInfFlag |
                                  rj::kParseStopWhenDoneFlag |
                                  rj::kParseNumbersAsStringsFlag;
@@ -776,6 +776,9 @@ class HandlerBase : public BlockParser,
           // parse the next object
           continue;
         case rj::kParseErrorDocumentEmpty:
+          if (json.Tell() < json_size) {
+            return ParseError(rj::GetParseError_En(ok.Code()));
+          }
           // parsed all objects, finish
           return Status::OK();
         case rj::kParseErrorTermination:
@@ -794,7 +797,7 @@ class HandlerBase : public BlockParser,
     RETURN_NOT_OK(ReserveScalarStorage(json->size()));
     rj::MemoryStream ms(reinterpret_cast<const char*>(json->data()), json->size());
     using InputStream = rj::EncodedInputStream<rj::UTF8<>, rj::MemoryStream>;
-    return DoParse(handler, InputStream(ms));
+    return DoParse(handler, InputStream(ms), static_cast<size_t>(json->size()));
   }
 
   /// \defgroup handlerbase-append-methods append non-nested values
diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/json/parser_test.cc b/cpp/src/arrow/json/parser_test.cc
index 53c456b4feb..681df4e6fa0 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/json/parser_test.cc
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/json/parser_test.cc
@@ -300,6 +300,14 @@ TEST(BlockParser, InferNewFieldsInMiddle) {
   }
 }
 
+TEST(BlockParser, FailOnInvalidEOF) {
+  std::shared_ptr<Array> parsed;
+  auto status = ParseFromString(ParseOptions::Defaults(), "}", &parsed);
+  ASSERT_RAISES(Invalid, status);
+  EXPECT_THAT(status.message(),
+              ::testing::StartsWith("JSON parse error: The document is empty"));
+}
+
 TEST(BlockParser, AdHoc) {
   auto options = ParseOptions::Defaults();
   options.unexpected_field_behavior = UnexpectedFieldBehavior::InferType;
diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/json/reader_test.cc b/cpp/src/arrow/json/reader_test.cc
index 452409209c4..83f5956a64c 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/json/reader_test.cc
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/json/reader_test.cc
@@ -305,5 +305,20 @@ TEST(ReaderTest, ListArrayWithFewValues) {
   AssertTablesEqual(*actual_table, *expected_table);
 }
 
+TEST(ReaderTest, FailOnInvalidEOF) {
+  auto read_options = ReadOptions::Defaults();
+  auto parse_options = ParseOptions::Defaults();
+  read_options.use_threads = false;
+  std::shared_ptr<io::InputStream> input;
+  ASSERT_OK(MakeStream("}", &input));
+
+  for (auto newlines_in_values : {false, true}) {
+    parse_options.newlines_in_values = newlines_in_values;
+    ASSERT_OK_AND_ASSIGN(auto reader, TableReader::Make(default_memory_pool(), input,
+                                                        read_options, parse_options));
+    ASSERT_RAISES(Invalid, reader->Read());
+  }
+}
+
 }  // namespace json
 }  // namespace arrow