diff --git a/src/array/utf8/mod.rs b/src/array/utf8/mod.rs
index 69c5af6e8f0..67c6c9c3a39 100644
--- a/src/array/utf8/mod.rs
+++ b/src/array/utf8/mod.rs
@@ -590,3 +590,19 @@ unsafe impl<O: Offset> GenericBinaryArray<O> for Utf8Array<O> {
         self.offsets()
     }
 }
+
+impl<O: Offset> Default for Utf8Array<O> {
+    fn default() -> Self {
+        let data_type = if O::IS_LARGE {
+            DataType::LargeUtf8
+        } else {
+            DataType::Utf8
+        };
+        Utf8Array::new(
+            data_type,
+            vec![O::from_usize(0).unwrap()].into(),
+            Default::default(),
+            None,
+        )
+    }
+}