diff --git a/cmake_modules/IcebergThirdpartyToolchain.cmake b/cmake_modules/IcebergThirdpartyToolchain.cmake
index a1a73dcff..383d0396a 100644
--- a/cmake_modules/IcebergThirdpartyToolchain.cmake
+++ b/cmake_modules/IcebergThirdpartyToolchain.cmake
@@ -233,14 +233,33 @@ function(resolve_arrow_dependency)
         "https://archive.apache.org/dist/thrift/0.22.0/thrift-0.22.0.tar.gz")
   endif()
 
+  # FetchContent sets arrow_SOURCE_DIR to the tarball root (SOURCE_SUBDIR is cpp)
+  # and on CMake < 3.30 project(arrow) only sets it as a cache variable, so the
+  # normal variable takes precedence and Arrow looks for thirdparty/versions.txt
+  # outside cpp/ (see CMP0180). Patch Arrow to use ARROW_SOURCE_DIR instead.
+  # See https://github.com/apache/iceberg-cpp/issues/1028.
+  # TODO: remove once the upstream Arrow fix is released.
+  set(ARROW_PATCH_COMMAND)
+  find_program(PATCH patch)
+  if(PATCH)
+    set(ARROW_PATCH_COMMAND ${PATCH} -p1 -i)
+  else()
+    find_program(GIT git)
+    if(GIT)
+      set(ARROW_PATCH_COMMAND ${GIT} apply)
+    endif()
+  endif()
+  if(ARROW_PATCH_COMMAND)
+    list(APPEND ARROW_PATCH_COMMAND
+         ${CMAKE_CURRENT_FUNCTION_LIST_DIR}/arrow-thirdparty-dir.patch)
+  endif()
+
   fetchcontent_declare(Arrow
                        ${FC_DECLARE_COMMON_OPTIONS}
                        URL ${ARROW_SOURCE_URL}
                        URL_HASH "SHA256=${ICEBERG_ARROW_BUILD_SHA256_CHECKSUM}"
-                       SOURCE_SUBDIR
-                       cpp
-                       FIND_PACKAGE_ARGS
-                       CONFIG)
+                       PATCH_COMMAND ${ARROW_PATCH_COMMAND} SOURCE_SUBDIR cpp
+                                     FIND_PACKAGE_ARGS CONFIG)
 
   fetchcontent_makeavailable(Arrow)
 
diff --git a/cmake_modules/arrow-thirdparty-dir.patch b/cmake_modules/arrow-thirdparty-dir.patch
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b3e3843a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmake_modules/arrow-thirdparty-dir.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+# software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+# "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+# KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+# specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+
+--- a/cpp/cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake
++++ b/cpp/cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake
+@@ -365,7 +365,7 @@
+ # ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+ # Thirdparty versions, environment variables, source URLs
+
+-set(THIRDPARTY_DIR "${arrow_SOURCE_DIR}/thirdparty")
++set(THIRDPARTY_DIR "${ARROW_SOURCE_DIR}/thirdparty")
+
+ add_library(arrow::flatbuffers INTERFACE IMPORTED)
+ target_include_directories(arrow::flatbuffers