diff --git a/cpp/cmake_modules/BuildUtils.cmake b/cpp/cmake_modules/BuildUtils.cmake
index 692efa78376f4..eb94563afcf77 100644
--- a/cpp/cmake_modules/BuildUtils.cmake
+++ b/cpp/cmake_modules/BuildUtils.cmake
@@ -97,23 +97,27 @@ function(arrow_create_merged_static_lib output_target)
   endforeach()
 
   if(APPLE)
-    # The apple-distributed libtool is what we want for bundling, but there is
-    # a GNU libtool that has a namecollision (and happens to be bundled with R, too).
-    # We are not compatible with GNU libtool, so we need to avoid it.
-
-    # check in the obvious places first to find Apple's libtool
-    # HINTS is used before system paths and before PATHS, so we use that
-    # even though hard coded paths should go in PATHS
-    # TODO: use a VALIDATOR when we require cmake >= 3.25
-    find_program(LIBTOOL_MACOS libtool HINTS /usr/bin
-                                             /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/usr/bin)
-
-    # confirm that the libtool we found is not GNU libtool
+    if(CMAKE_LIBTOOL)
+      set(LIBTOOL_MACOS ${CMAKE_LIBTOOL})
+    else()
+      # The apple-distributed libtool is what we want for bundling, but there is
+      # a GNU libtool that has a namecollision (and happens to be bundled with R, too).
+      # We are not compatible with GNU libtool, so we need to avoid it.
+
+      # check in the obvious places first to find Apple's libtool
+      # HINTS is used before system paths and before PATHS, so we use that
+      # even though hard coded paths should go in PATHS
+      # TODO: use a VALIDATOR when we require cmake >= 3.25
+      find_program(LIBTOOL_MACOS libtool
+                   HINTS /usr/bin /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/usr/bin)
+    endif()
+
+    # confirm that the libtool we found is Apple's libtool
     execute_process(COMMAND ${LIBTOOL_MACOS} -V
                     OUTPUT_VARIABLE LIBTOOL_V_OUTPUT
                     OUTPUT_STRIP_TRAILING_WHITESPACE)
     if(NOT "${LIBTOOL_V_OUTPUT}" MATCHES ".*cctools-([0-9.]+).*")
-      message(FATAL_ERROR "libtool found appears to be the incompatible GNU libtool: ${LIBTOOL_MACOS}"
+      message(FATAL_ERROR "libtool found appears not to be Apple's libtool: ${LIBTOOL_MACOS}"
       )
     endif()