diff --git a/r/R/dataset-factory.R b/r/R/dataset-factory.R
index 30622b8a6d0..a772be544b0 100644
--- a/r/R/dataset-factory.R
+++ b/r/R/dataset-factory.R
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ DatasetFactory <- R6Class("DatasetFactory", inherit = ArrowObject,
       if (is.null(schema)) {
         dataset___DatasetFactory__Finish1(self, unify_schemas)
       } else {
+        assert_is(schema, "Schema")
         dataset___DatasetFactory__Finish2(self, schema)
       }
     },
diff --git a/r/R/dataset.R b/r/R/dataset.R
index e990ff3cb86..3f7d117d6f6 100644
--- a/r/R/dataset.R
+++ b/r/R/dataset.R
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ open_dataset <- function(sources,
       }
     }
     # Enforce that all datasets have the same schema
+    assert_is(schema, "Schema")
     sources <- lapply(sources, function(x) {
       x$schema <- schema
       x
diff --git a/r/tests/testthat/test-dataset.R b/r/tests/testthat/test-dataset.R
index e84eb12b08a..2dbf9c5cbbb 100644
--- a/r/tests/testthat/test-dataset.R
+++ b/r/tests/testthat/test-dataset.R
@@ -194,6 +194,12 @@ test_that("Hive partitioning", {
   )
 })
 
+test_that("input validation", {
+  expect_error(
+    open_dataset(hive_dir, hive_partition(other = utf8(), group = uint8()))
+  )
+})
+
 test_that("Partitioning inference", {
   # These are the same tests as above, just using the *PartitioningFactory
   ds1 <- open_dataset(dataset_dir, partitioning = "part")