diff --git a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/jdbc/DerbyDialect.scala b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/jdbc/DerbyDialect.scala
index 36af0e6aeaf1..23da4dbb60a5 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/jdbc/DerbyDialect.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/jdbc/DerbyDialect.scala
@@ -48,9 +48,15 @@ private case class DerbyDialect() extends JdbcDialect {
     case ByteType => Option(JdbcType("SMALLINT", java.sql.Types.SMALLINT))
     case ShortType => Option(JdbcType("SMALLINT", java.sql.Types.SMALLINT))
     case BooleanType => Option(JdbcType("BOOLEAN", java.sql.Types.BOOLEAN))
-    // 31 is the maximum precision and 5 is the default scale for a Derby DECIMAL
-    case t: DecimalType if t.precision > 31 =>
-      Option(JdbcType("DECIMAL(31,5)", java.sql.Types.DECIMAL))
+    // 31 is the maximum precision
+    // https://db.apache.org/derby/docs/10.13/ref/rrefsqlj15260.html
+    case t: DecimalType =>
+      val (p, s) = if (t.precision > 31) {
+        (31, math.max(t.scale - (t.precision - 31), 0))
+      } else {
+        (t.precision, t.scale)
+      }
+      Option(JdbcType(s"DECIMAL($p,$s)", java.sql.Types.DECIMAL))
     case _ => None
   }
 
diff --git a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/datasources/v2/jdbc/DerbyTableCatalogSuite.scala b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/datasources/v2/jdbc/DerbyTableCatalogSuite.scala
index e3714e604495..d793ef526c47 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/datasources/v2/jdbc/DerbyTableCatalogSuite.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/datasources/v2/jdbc/DerbyTableCatalogSuite.scala
@@ -51,4 +51,12 @@ class DerbyTableCatalogSuite extends QueryTest with SharedSparkSession {
       checkAnswer(sql(s"SHOW TABLES IN derby.test1"), Row("test1", "TABLE2", false))
     }
   }
+
+  test("SPARK-48439: Calculate suitable precision and scale for DECIMAL type") {
+    withTable("derby.test1.table1") {
+      sql("CREATE TABLE derby.test1.table1 (c1 decimal(38, 18))")
+      sql("INSERT INTO derby.test1.table1 VALUES (1.123456789123456789)")
+      checkAnswer(sql("SELECT * FROM derby.test1.table1"), Row(1.12345678912))
+    }
+  }
 }