diff --git a/cpp/src/parquet/column/levels-test.cc b/cpp/src/parquet/column/levels-test.cc
index cb7cc3863cdf6..126873c0e9877 100644
--- a/cpp/src/parquet/column/levels-test.cc
+++ b/cpp/src/parquet/column/levels-test.cc
@@ -206,4 +206,36 @@ TEST(TestLevelEncoder, MinimumBufferSize) {
   ASSERT_EQ(kNumToEncode, encode_count);
 }
 
+TEST(TestLevelEncoder, MinimumBufferSize2) {
+  // PARQUET-708
+  // Test the worst case for bit_width=2 consisting of
+  // LiteralRun(size=8)
+  // RepeatedRun(size=8)
+  // LiteralRun(size=8)
+  // ...
+  const int kNumToEncode = 1024;
+
+  std::vector<int16_t> levels;
+  for (int i = 0; i < kNumToEncode; ++i) {
+    // This forces a literal run of 00000001
+    // followed by eight 1s
+    if ((i % 16) < 7) {
+      levels.push_back(0);
+    } else {
+      levels.push_back(1);
+    }
+  }
+
+  for (int bit_width = 1; bit_width <= 8; bit_width++) {
+    std::vector<uint8_t> output(
+        LevelEncoder::MaxBufferSize(Encoding::RLE, bit_width, kNumToEncode));
+
+    LevelEncoder encoder;
+    encoder.Init(Encoding::RLE, bit_width, kNumToEncode, output.data(), output.size());
+    int encode_count = encoder.Encode(kNumToEncode, levels.data());
+
+    ASSERT_EQ(kNumToEncode, encode_count);
+  }
+}
+
 }  // namespace parquet
diff --git a/cpp/src/parquet/util/rle-encoding.h b/cpp/src/parquet/util/rle-encoding.h
index 15fd5504ba17f..8fa1c416d23d3 100644
--- a/cpp/src/parquet/util/rle-encoding.h
+++ b/cpp/src/parquet/util/rle-encoding.h
@@ -171,8 +171,12 @@ class RleEncoder {
 
   /// Returns the maximum byte size it could take to encode 'num_values'.
   static int MaxBufferSize(int bit_width, int num_values) {
-    int bytes_per_run = BitUtil::Ceil(bit_width * MAX_VALUES_PER_LITERAL_RUN, 8.0);
-    int num_runs = BitUtil::Ceil(num_values, MAX_VALUES_PER_LITERAL_RUN);
+    // For a bit_width > 1, the worst case is the repetition of "literal run of length 8
+    // and then a repeated run of length 8".
+    // 8 values per smallest run, 8 bits per byte
+    // int bytes_per_run = BitUtil::Ceil(bit_width * 8, 8);
+    int bytes_per_run = bit_width;
+    int num_runs = BitUtil::Ceil(num_values, 8);
     int literal_max_size = num_runs + num_runs * bytes_per_run;
 
     // In the very worst case scenario, the data is a concatenation of repeated