diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/ipc/metadata-internal.cc b/cpp/src/arrow/ipc/metadata-internal.cc
index 1c15218c0ba..8cc902c2967 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/ipc/metadata-internal.cc
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/ipc/metadata-internal.cc
@@ -295,7 +295,8 @@ Status WriteDataHeader(int32_t length, int64_t body_length,
 }
 
 Status MessageBuilder::Finish() {
-  auto message = flatbuf::CreateMessage(fbb_, header_type_, header_, body_length_);
+  auto message = flatbuf::CreateMessage(fbb_, kMetadataVersion,
+      header_type_, header_, body_length_);
   fbb_.Finish(message);
   return Status::OK();
 }
diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/ipc/metadata-internal.h b/cpp/src/arrow/ipc/metadata-internal.h
index 5faa8c947b5..db9a83f6a8d 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/ipc/metadata-internal.h
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/ipc/metadata-internal.h
@@ -37,6 +37,9 @@ class Status;
 
 namespace ipc {
 
+static constexpr flatbuf::MetadataVersion kMetadataVersion =
+  flatbuf::MetadataVersion_V1_SNAPSHOT;
+
 Status FieldFromFlatbuffer(const flatbuf::Field* field, std::shared_ptr<Field>* out);
 
 class MessageBuilder {
diff --git a/format/File.fbs b/format/File.fbs
index f7ad1e1594a..a29bbc694bc 100644
--- a/format/File.fbs
+++ b/format/File.fbs
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ namespace org.apache.arrow.flatbuf;
 ///
 
 table Footer {
+  version: org.apache.arrow.flatbuf.MetadataVersion;
 
   schema: org.apache.arrow.flatbuf.Schema;
 
diff --git a/format/Message.fbs b/format/Message.fbs
index 78bdaeb35f5..657904a7032 100644
--- a/format/Message.fbs
+++ b/format/Message.fbs
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 namespace org.apache.arrow.flatbuf;
 
+enum MetadataVersion:short {
+  V1_SNAPSHOT
+}
+
 /// ----------------------------------------------------------------------
 /// Logical types and their metadata (if any)
 ///
@@ -237,6 +241,7 @@ union MessageHeader {
 }
 
 table Message {
+  version: org.apache.arrow.flatbuf.MetadataVersion;
   header: MessageHeader;
   bodyLength: long;
 }