diff --git a/java/algorithm/src/main/java/org/apache/arrow/algorithm/sort/VectorValueComparator.java b/java/algorithm/src/main/java/org/apache/arrow/algorithm/sort/VectorValueComparator.java
index ed32e16ca26..d2c772ca8a8 100644
--- a/java/algorithm/src/main/java/org/apache/arrow/algorithm/sort/VectorValueComparator.java
+++ b/java/algorithm/src/main/java/org/apache/arrow/algorithm/sort/VectorValueComparator.java
@@ -41,6 +41,18 @@ public abstract class VectorValueComparator<V extends ValueVector> {
    */
   protected int valueWidth;
 
+
+  private boolean checkNullsOnCompare = true;
+
+  /**
+   * This value is true by default and re-computed when vectors are attached to the comparator. If both vectors cannot
+   * contain nulls then this value is {@code false} and calls to {@code compare(i1, i2)} are short-circuited
+   * to {@code compareNotNull(i1, i2)} thereby speeding up comparisons resulting in faster sorts etc.
+   */
+  public boolean checkNullsOnCompare() {
+    return this.checkNullsOnCompare;
+  }
+
   /**
    * Constructor for variable-width vectors.
    */
@@ -76,6 +88,21 @@ public void attachVector(V vector) {
   public void attachVectors(V vector1, V vector2) {
     this.vector1 = vector1;
     this.vector2 = vector2;
+
+    final boolean v1MayHaveNulls = mayHaveNulls(vector1);
+    final boolean v2MayHaveNulls = mayHaveNulls(vector2);
+
+    this.checkNullsOnCompare = v1MayHaveNulls || v2MayHaveNulls;
+  }
+
+  private boolean mayHaveNulls(V v) {
+    if (v.getValueCount() == 0) {
+      return true;
+    }
+    if (! v.getField().isNullable()) {
+      return false;
+    }
+    return v.getNullCount() > 0;
   }
 
   /**
@@ -87,17 +114,19 @@ public void attachVectors(V vector1, V vector2) {
    *     values are equal.
    */
   public int compare(int index1, int index2) {
-    boolean isNull1 = vector1.isNull(index1);
-    boolean isNull2 = vector2.isNull(index2);
-
-    if (isNull1 || isNull2) {
-      if (isNull1 && isNull2) {
-        return 0;
-      } else if (isNull1) {
-        // null is smaller
-        return -1;
-      } else {
-        return 1;
+    if (checkNullsOnCompare) {
+      boolean isNull1 = vector1.isNull(index1);
+      boolean isNull2 = vector2.isNull(index2);
+
+      if (isNull1 || isNull2) {
+        if (isNull1 && isNull2) {
+          return 0;
+        } else if (isNull1) {
+          // null is smaller
+          return -1;
+        } else {
+          return 1;
+        }
       }
     }
     return compareNotNull(index1, index2);
diff --git a/java/algorithm/src/test/java/org/apache/arrow/algorithm/sort/TestDefaultVectorComparator.java b/java/algorithm/src/test/java/org/apache/arrow/algorithm/sort/TestDefaultVectorComparator.java
index 2fbf598bf33..818bb60d116 100644
--- a/java/algorithm/src/test/java/org/apache/arrow/algorithm/sort/TestDefaultVectorComparator.java
+++ b/java/algorithm/src/test/java/org/apache/arrow/algorithm/sort/TestDefaultVectorComparator.java
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 
 import static org.apache.arrow.vector.complex.BaseRepeatedValueVector.OFFSET_WIDTH;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertFalse;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue;
 
 import org.apache.arrow.memory.BufferAllocator;
@@ -34,6 +35,7 @@
 import org.apache.arrow.vector.complex.ListVector;
 import org.apache.arrow.vector.testing.ValueVectorDataPopulator;
 import org.apache.arrow.vector.types.Types;
+import org.apache.arrow.vector.types.pojo.ArrowType;
 import org.apache.arrow.vector.types.pojo.FieldType;
 import org.junit.After;
 import org.junit.Before;
@@ -390,4 +392,76 @@ public void testCompareByte() {
       assertTrue(comparator.compare(7, 7) == 0);
     }
   }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testCheckNullsOnCompareIsFalseForNonNullableVector() {
+    try (IntVector vec = new IntVector("not nullable",
+            FieldType.notNullable(new ArrowType.Int(32, false)), allocator)) {
+
+      ValueVectorDataPopulator.setVector(vec, 1, 2, 3, 4);
+
+      final VectorValueComparator<IntVector> comparator = DefaultVectorComparators.createDefaultComparator(vec);
+      comparator.attachVector(vec);
+
+      assertFalse(comparator.checkNullsOnCompare());
+    }
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testCheckNullsOnCompareIsTrueForNullableVector() {
+    try (IntVector vec = new IntVector("nullable", FieldType.nullable(
+            new ArrowType.Int(32, false)), allocator);
+         IntVector vec2 = new IntVector("not-nullable", FieldType.notNullable(
+                 new ArrowType.Int(32, false)), allocator)
+    ) {
+
+      ValueVectorDataPopulator.setVector(vec, 1, null, 3, 4);
+      ValueVectorDataPopulator.setVector(vec2, 1, 2, 3, 4);
+
+      final VectorValueComparator<IntVector> comparator = DefaultVectorComparators.createDefaultComparator(vec);
+      comparator.attachVector(vec);
+      assertTrue(comparator.checkNullsOnCompare());
+
+      comparator.attachVectors(vec, vec2);
+      assertTrue(comparator.checkNullsOnCompare());
+    }
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testCheckNullsOnCompareIsFalseWithNoNulls() {
+    try (IntVector vec = new IntVector("nullable", FieldType.nullable(
+            new ArrowType.Int(32, false)), allocator);
+         IntVector vec2 = new IntVector("also-nullable", FieldType.nullable(
+                 new ArrowType.Int(32, false)), allocator)
+    ) {
+
+      // no null values
+      ValueVectorDataPopulator.setVector(vec, 1, 2, 3, 4);
+      ValueVectorDataPopulator.setVector(vec2, 1, 2, 3, 4);
+
+      final VectorValueComparator<IntVector> comparator = DefaultVectorComparators.createDefaultComparator(vec);
+      comparator.attachVector(vec);
+      assertFalse(comparator.checkNullsOnCompare());
+
+      comparator.attachVectors(vec, vec2);
+      assertFalse(comparator.checkNullsOnCompare());
+    }
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testCheckNullsOnCompareIsTrueWithEmptyVectors() {
+    try (IntVector vec = new IntVector("nullable", FieldType.nullable(
+            new ArrowType.Int(32, false)), allocator);
+         IntVector vec2 = new IntVector("also-nullable", FieldType.nullable(
+                 new ArrowType.Int(32, false)), allocator)
+    ) {
+
+      final VectorValueComparator<IntVector> comparator = DefaultVectorComparators.createDefaultComparator(vec);
+      comparator.attachVector(vec2);
+      assertTrue(comparator.checkNullsOnCompare());
+
+      comparator.attachVectors(vec, vec2);
+      assertTrue(comparator.checkNullsOnCompare());
+    }
+  }
 }