diff --git a/python/python/lance/dataset.py b/python/python/lance/dataset.py
index 783a0772b97..a119933fdd8 100644
--- a/python/python/lance/dataset.py
+++ b/python/python/lance/dataset.py
@@ -2369,6 +2369,7 @@ def create_scalar_index(
             field = lance_field.to_arrow()
 
             field_type = field.type
+            field_meta = field.metadata
             if hasattr(field_type, "storage_type"):
                 field_type = field_type.storage_type
 
@@ -2397,12 +2398,17 @@ def create_scalar_index(
                 value_type = field_type
                 if pa.types.is_list(field_type) or pa.types.is_large_list(field_type):
                     value_type = field_type.value_type
-                if not pa.types.is_string(value_type) and not pa.types.is_large_string(
-                    value_type
+                if (
+                    not pa.types.is_string(value_type)
+                    and not pa.types.is_large_string(value_type)
+                    and not (
+                        pa.types.is_large_binary(value_type)
+                        and field_meta[b"ARROW:extension:name"] == b"lance.json"
+                    )
                 ):
                     raise TypeError(
                         f"INVERTED index column {column} must be string, large string"
-                        " or list of strings, but got {value_type}"
+                        f" or list of strings, or json, but got {value_type}"
                     )
 
             if pa.types.is_duration(field_type):
diff --git a/python/python/tests/test_scalar_index.py b/python/python/tests/test_scalar_index.py
index d33ca4a9b6d..c2010dc5670 100644
--- a/python/python/tests/test_scalar_index.py
+++ b/python/python/tests/test_scalar_index.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 # SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright The Lance Authors
 
+import json
 import os
 import random
 import re
@@ -3945,3 +3946,70 @@ def test_nested_field_bitmap_index(tmp_path):
     # Verify query still works after optimization
     results = ds.to_table(filter="attributes.color = 'red'", prefilter=True)
     assert results.num_rows == 51  # 34 + 17 from new data
+
+
+def test_json_inverted_match_query(tmp_path):
+    # Prepare dataset with JSON data
+    json_data = [
+        {
+            "Title": "HarryPotter Chapter One",
+            "Content": "Once upon a time, there was a boy named Harry.",
+            "Author": "J.K. Rowling",
+            "Price": 99,
+            "Language": ["english", "french"],
+        },
+        {
+            "Title": "HarryPotter Chapter Two",
+            "Content": "Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up...",
+            "Author": "J.K. Rowling",
+            "Price": 128,
+            "Language": ["english", "chinese"],
+        },
+        {
+            "Title": "The Hobbit",
+            "Content": "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.",
+            "Author": "J.R.R. Tolkien",
+            "Price": 89,
+            "Language": ["english"],
+        },
+    ]
+
+    # Convert to JSON strings
+    json_strings = pa.array([json.dumps(doc) for doc in json_data], type=pa.json_())
+    table = pa.table({"json_col": json_strings, "id": range(len(json_data))})
+    dataset = lance.write_dataset(table, tmp_path)
+
+    # Create inverted index with JSON tokenizer
+    dataset.create_scalar_index(
+        "json_col",
+        index_type="INVERTED",
+        base_tokenizer="simple",
+        max_token_length=10,
+        stem=True,
+        lower_case=True,
+        remove_stop_words=True,
+    )
+
+    # Test match query with token exceeding max_token_length
+    results = dataset.to_table(
+        full_text_query=MatchQuery("Title,str,harrypotter", "json_col")
+    )
+    assert results.num_rows == 0
+
+    # Test stemming
+    results = dataset.to_table(
+        full_text_query=MatchQuery("Content,str,onc", "json_col")
+    )
+    assert results.num_rows == 1
+
+    # Test language match
+    results = dataset.to_table(
+        full_text_query=MatchQuery("Language,str,english", "json_col")
+    )
+    assert results.num_rows == 3
+
+    # Test author match
+    results = dataset.to_table(
+        full_text_query=MatchQuery("Author,str,tolkien", "json_col")
+    )
+    assert results.num_rows == 1
diff --git a/rust/lance-index/src/scalar/inverted/builder.rs b/rust/lance-index/src/scalar/inverted/builder.rs
index 8da433647d8..4d2e44b450a 100644
--- a/rust/lance-index/src/scalar/inverted/builder.rs
+++ b/rust/lance-index/src/scalar/inverted/builder.rs
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ use super::{
     InvertedIndexParams,
 };
 use crate::scalar::inverted::json::JsonTextStream;
+use crate::scalar::inverted::lance_tokenizer::DocType;
 use crate::scalar::inverted::tokenizer::lance_tokenizer::LanceTokenizer;
 use crate::scalar::lance_format::LanceIndexStore;
 use crate::scalar::IndexStore;
@@ -144,6 +145,15 @@ impl InvertedIndexBuilder {
     ) -> Result<()> {
         let schema = new_data.schema();
         let doc_col = schema.field(0).name();
+
+        // infer lance_tokenizer based on document type
+        if self.params.lance_tokenizer.is_none() {
+            let schema = new_data.schema();
+            let field = schema.column_with_name(doc_col).expect_ok()?.1;
+            let doc_type = DocType::try_from(field)?;
+            self.params.lance_tokenizer = Some(doc_type.as_ref().to_string());
+        }
+
         let new_data = document_input(new_data, doc_col)?;
 
         self.update_index(new_data).await?;
diff --git a/rust/lance-index/src/scalar/inverted/tokenizer.rs b/rust/lance-index/src/scalar/inverted/tokenizer.rs
index 698283b7fea..324ae9d7b6a 100644
--- a/rust/lance-index/src/scalar/inverted/tokenizer.rs
+++ b/rust/lance-index/src/scalar/inverted/tokenizer.rs
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ pub struct InvertedIndexParams {
     /// lance tokenizer takes care of different data types, such as text, json, etc.
     /// - 'text': parsing input documents into tokens
     /// - 'json': parsing input json string into tokens
-    /// - default: text
+    /// - none: auto type inference
     pub(crate) lance_tokenizer: Option<String>,
     /// base tokenizer:
     /// - `simple`: splits tokens on whitespace and punctuation
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ impl InvertedIndexParams {
     /// Default to `English`.
     pub fn new(base_tokenizer: String, language: tantivy::tokenizer::Language) -> Self {
         Self {
-            lance_tokenizer: Some("text".to_owned()),
+            lance_tokenizer: None,
             base_tokenizer,
             language,
             with_position: false,
diff --git a/rust/lance-index/src/scalar/inverted/tokenizer/lance_tokenizer.rs b/rust/lance-index/src/scalar/inverted/tokenizer/lance_tokenizer.rs
index 50171999a33..30107bb2546 100644
--- a/rust/lance-index/src/scalar/inverted/tokenizer/lance_tokenizer.rs
+++ b/rust/lance-index/src/scalar/inverted/tokenizer/lance_tokenizer.rs
@@ -1,10 +1,54 @@
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 // SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright The Lance Authors
 
+use arrow_schema::{DataType, Field};
+use lance_arrow::json::JSON_EXT_NAME;
+use lance_arrow::ARROW_EXT_NAME_KEY;
 use serde_json::Value;
 use snafu::location;
 use tantivy::tokenizer::{BoxTokenStream, Token, TokenStream};
 
+/// Document type for full text search.
+pub enum DocType {
+    Text,
+    Json,
+}
+
+impl AsRef<str> for DocType {
+    fn as_ref(&self) -> &str {
+        match self {
+            Self::Text => "text",
+            Self::Json => "json",
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl TryFrom<&Field> for DocType {
+    type Error = lance_core::Error;
+
+    fn try_from(field: &Field) -> Result<Self, Self::Error> {
+        match field.data_type() {
+            DataType::Utf8 | DataType::LargeUtf8 => Ok(Self::Text),
+            DataType::List(field) | DataType::LargeList(field)
+                if matches!(field.data_type(), DataType::Utf8 | DataType::LargeUtf8) =>
+            {
+                Ok(Self::Text)
+            }
+            DataType::LargeBinary => match field.metadata().get(ARROW_EXT_NAME_KEY) {
+                Some(name) if name.as_str() == JSON_EXT_NAME => Ok(Self::Json),
+                _ => Err(lance_core::Error::InvalidInput {
+                    source: format!("field {} is not json", field.name()).into(),
+                    location: location!(),
+                }),
+            },
+            _ => Err(lance_core::Error::InvalidInput {
+                source: format!("field {} is not json", field.name()).into(),
+                location: location!(),
+            }),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 /// Lance full text search tokenizer.
 ///
 /// `LanceTokenizer` defines 2 methods for tokenization, normally they are the same, but sometimes
diff --git a/rust/lance/src/dataset.rs b/rust/lance/src/dataset.rs
index 6cc56932eb6..facbb283756 100644
--- a/rust/lance/src/dataset.rs
+++ b/rust/lance/src/dataset.rs
@@ -9497,4 +9497,38 @@ mod tests {
         // Should have both data writes (10 rows total)
         assert_eq!(final_dataset.count_rows(None).await.unwrap(), 10);
     }
+
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn test_auto_infer_lance_tokenizer() {
+        let (mut dataset, json_col) = prepare_json_dataset().await;
+
+        // Create inverted index for json col. Expect auto-infer 'json' for lance tokenizer.
+        dataset
+            .create_index(
+                &[&json_col],
+                IndexType::Inverted,
+                None,
+                &InvertedIndexParams::default(),
+                true,
+            )
+            .await
+            .unwrap();
+
+        // Match query succeed only when lance tokenizer is 'json'
+        let query = FullTextSearchQuery {
+            query: FtsQuery::Match(
+                MatchQuery::new("Content,str,once".to_string()).with_column(Some(json_col.clone())),
+            ),
+            limit: None,
+            wand_factor: None,
+        };
+        let batch = dataset
+            .scan()
+            .full_text_search(query)
+            .unwrap()
+            .try_into_batch()
+            .await
+            .unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(1, batch.num_rows());
+    }
 }