diff --git a/parquet-variant/src/variant/list.rs b/parquet-variant/src/variant/list.rs
index 6de6ed830720..ca15932347c0 100644
--- a/parquet-variant/src/variant/list.rs
+++ b/parquet-variant/src/variant/list.rs
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ impl VariantListHeader {
 ///
 /// [valid]: VariantMetadata#Validation
 /// [Variant spec]: https://github.com/apache/parquet-format/blob/master/VariantEncoding.md#value-data-for-array-basic_type3
-#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq)]
+#[derive(Debug, Clone)]
 pub struct VariantList<'m, 'v> {
     pub metadata: VariantMetadata<'m>,
     pub value: &'v [u8],
@@ -302,6 +302,16 @@ impl<'m, 'v> VariantList<'m, 'v> {
     }
 }
 
+impl<'m, 'v> PartialEq for VariantList<'m, 'v> {
+    fn eq(&self, other: &Self) -> bool {
+        self.metadata == other.metadata
+            && self.value == other.value
+            && self.header == other.header
+            && self.num_elements == other.num_elements
+            && self.first_value_byte == other.first_value_byte
+    }
+}
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use super::*;
@@ -627,4 +637,24 @@ mod tests {
             assert_eq!(expected_list.get(i).unwrap(), item_str);
         }
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn items_are_equal_even_if_not_validated() {
+        use crate::Variant;
+        use crate::VariantBuilder;
+
+        let mut builder = VariantBuilder::new();
+
+        let mut list = builder.new_list();
+        list.append_value("hello2");
+        list.finish();
+
+        let (metadata, value) = builder.finish();
+
+        let variant1 = Variant::new(&metadata, &value);
+        let variant2 = Variant::new(&metadata, &value)
+            .with_full_validation()
+            .unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(variant1, variant2)
+    }
 }
diff --git a/parquet-variant/src/variant/metadata.rs b/parquet-variant/src/variant/metadata.rs
index f957ebb6f15b..6ae9eb8dbd2d 100644
--- a/parquet-variant/src/variant/metadata.rs
+++ b/parquet-variant/src/variant/metadata.rs
@@ -355,10 +355,8 @@ impl<'m> VariantMetadata<'m> {
 // checks whether the dictionary entries are equal -- regardless of their sorting order
 impl<'m> PartialEq for VariantMetadata<'m> {
     fn eq(&self, other: &Self) -> bool {
-        let is_equal = self.is_empty() == other.is_empty()
-            && self.is_fully_validated() == other.is_fully_validated()
-            && self.first_value_byte == other.first_value_byte
-            && self.validated == other.validated;
+        let is_equal =
+            self.is_empty() == other.is_empty() && self.first_value_byte == other.first_value_byte;
 
         let other_field_names: HashSet<&'m str> = HashSet::from_iter(other.iter());
 
@@ -531,4 +529,15 @@ mod tests {
             "unexpected error: {err:?}"
         );
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn metadata_is_equal() {
+        let metadata_bytes = vec![0x11, 0, 0];
+        let metadata1 = VariantMetadata::try_new(&metadata_bytes).unwrap();
+        let metadata2 = VariantMetadata::try_new(&metadata_bytes)
+            .unwrap()
+            .with_full_validation()
+            .unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(metadata1, metadata2)
+    }
 }
diff --git a/parquet-variant/src/variant/object.rs b/parquet-variant/src/variant/object.rs
index bce2ffc876b5..d8292f5e007b 100644
--- a/parquet-variant/src/variant/object.rs
+++ b/parquet-variant/src/variant/object.rs
@@ -416,8 +416,7 @@ impl<'m, 'v> PartialEq for VariantObject<'m, 'v> {
             && self.header == other.header
             && self.num_elements == other.num_elements
             && self.first_field_offset_byte == other.first_field_offset_byte
-            && self.first_value_byte == other.first_value_byte
-            && self.validated == other.validated;
+            && self.first_value_byte == other.first_value_byte;
 
         // value validation
         let other_fields: HashMap<&str, Variant> = HashMap::from_iter(other.iter());
@@ -949,4 +948,25 @@ mod tests {
         // objects are still logically equal
         assert_eq!(v1, v2);
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn items_are_equal_even_if_not_validated() {
+        use crate::Variant;
+        use crate::VariantBuilder;
+
+        let mut builder = VariantBuilder::new();
+        let mut obj = builder.new_object();
+        obj.insert("field1", "hello");
+        obj.insert("field2", 34);
+        obj.insert("field3", true);
+        obj.finish().unwrap();
+
+        let (metadata, value) = builder.finish();
+
+        let variant1 = Variant::new(&metadata, &value);
+        let variant2 = Variant::new(&metadata, &value)
+            .with_full_validation()
+            .unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(variant1, variant2)
+    }
 }