diff --git a/cpp/CMakeLists.txt b/cpp/CMakeLists.txt
index adcca0e0b49..d288ffb5f7a 100644
--- a/cpp/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cpp/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -609,8 +609,10 @@ if("$ENV{RAPIDJSON_HOME}" STREQUAL "")
 
   ExternalProject_Get_Property(rapidjson_ep SOURCE_DIR)
   set(RAPIDJSON_INCLUDE_DIR "${SOURCE_DIR}/include")
+  set(RAPIDJSON_VENDORED 1)
 else()
   set(RAPIDJSON_INCLUDE_DIR "$ENV{RAPIDJSON_HOME}/include")
+  set(RAPIDJSON_VENDORED 0)
 endif()
 message(STATUS "RapidJSON include dir: ${RAPIDJSON_INCLUDE_DIR}")
 include_directories(SYSTEM ${RAPIDJSON_INCLUDE_DIR})
diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/ipc/CMakeLists.txt b/cpp/src/arrow/ipc/CMakeLists.txt
index 6f401dba249..b1669c5f7c2 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/ipc/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/ipc/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -44,6 +44,9 @@ set(ARROW_IPC_SRCS
 add_library(arrow_ipc SHARED
   ${ARROW_IPC_SRCS}
 )
+if(RAPIDJSON_VERDORED)
+  add_dependencies(arrow_ipc rapidjson_ep)
+endif()
 if(FLATBUFFERS_VENDORED)
   add_dependencies(arrow_ipc flatbuffers_ep)
 endif()