diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/types/string-test.cc b/cpp/src/arrow/types/string-test.cc
index d897e30a3c6..af87a14a8b3 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/types/string-test.cc
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/types/string-test.cc
@@ -129,6 +129,18 @@ TEST_F(TestStringContainer, TestGetString) {
   }
 }
 
+TEST_F(TestStringContainer, TestEmptyStringComparison) {
+  offsets_ = {0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0};
+  offsets_buf_ = test::to_buffer(offsets_);
+  length_ = offsets_.size() - 1;
+
+  auto strings_a = std::make_shared<StringArray>(
+      length_, offsets_buf_, nullptr, null_count_, null_bitmap_);
+  auto strings_b = std::make_shared<StringArray>(
+      length_, offsets_buf_, nullptr, null_count_, null_bitmap_);
+  ASSERT_TRUE(strings_a->Equals(strings_b));
+}
+
 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------
 // String builder tests
 
diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/types/string.cc b/cpp/src/arrow/types/string.cc
index d692e13773f..f6d26df3167 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/types/string.cc
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/types/string.cc
@@ -56,6 +56,8 @@ bool BinaryArray::EqualsExact(const BinaryArray& other) const {
       offset_buffer_->Equals(*other.offset_buffer_, (length_ + 1) * sizeof(int32_t));
   if (!equal_offsets) { return false; }
 
+  if (!data_buffer_ && !(other.data_buffer_)) { return true; }
+
   return data_buffer_->Equals(*other.data_buffer_, data_buffer_->size());
 }