diff --git a/r/NEWS.md b/r/NEWS.md
index 98a7e114294..9083249a99b 100644
--- a/r/NEWS.md
+++ b/r/NEWS.md
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
   * component extraction functions: `tz()` (timezone), `semester()` (semester), `dst()` (daylight savings time indicator), `date()` (extract date), `epiyear()` (epiyear), improvements to `month()`, which now works with integer inputs.
   * Added `make_date()` & `make_datetime()` + `ISOdatetime()` & `ISOdate()` to create date-times from numeric representations. 
   * Added `decimal_date()` and `date_decimal()`
+  * Added `make_difftime()` (duration constructor)
 * date-time functionality:
   * Added `difftime` and `as.difftime()` 
   * Added `as.Date()` to convert to date
diff --git a/r/R/dplyr-funcs-datetime.R b/r/R/dplyr-funcs-datetime.R
index 3b03477cc81..7657a79271b 100644
--- a/r/R/dplyr-funcs-datetime.R
+++ b/r/R/dplyr-funcs-datetime.R
@@ -353,6 +353,36 @@ register_bindings_duration <- function() {
   })
 }
 
+register_bindings_difftime_constructors <- function() {
+  register_binding("make_difftime", function(num = NULL,
+                                             units = "secs",
+                                             ...) {
+    if (units != "secs") {
+      abort("`make_difftime()` with units other than 'secs' not supported in Arrow")
+    }
+
+    chunks <- list(...)
+
+    # lubridate concatenates durations passed via the `num` argument with those
+    # passed via `...` resulting in a vector of length 2 - which is virtually
+    # unusable in a dplyr pipeline. Arrow errors in this situation
+    if (!is.null(num) && length(chunks) > 0) {
+      abort("`make_difftime()` with both `num` and `...` not supported in Arrow")
+    }
+
+    if (!is.null(num)) {
+      # build duration from num if present
+      duration <- num
+    } else {
+      # build duration from chunks when nothing is passed via ...
+      duration <- duration_from_chunks(chunks)
+    }
+
+    duration <- build_expr("cast", duration, options = cast_options(to_type = int64()))
+    duration$cast(duration("s"))
+  })
+}
+
 make_duration <- function(x, unit) {
   x <- build_expr("cast", x, options = cast_options(to_type = int64()))
   x$cast(duration(unit))
@@ -397,3 +427,39 @@ binding_format_datetime <- function(x, format = "", tz = "", usetz = FALSE) {
 
   build_expr("strftime", x, options = list(format = format, locale = Sys.getlocale("LC_TIME")))
 }
+
+# this is a helper function used for creating a difftime / duration objects from
+# several of the accepted pieces (second, minute, hour, day, week)
+duration_from_chunks <- function(chunks) {
+  accepted_chunks <- c("second", "minute", "hour", "day", "week")
+  matched_chunks <- accepted_chunks[pmatch(names(chunks), accepted_chunks, duplicates.ok = TRUE)]
+
+  if (any(is.na(matched_chunks))) {
+    abort(
+      paste0(
+        "named `difftime` units other than: ",
+        oxford_paste(accepted_chunks, quote_symbol = "`"),
+        " not supported in Arrow. \nInvalid `difftime` parts: ",
+        oxford_paste(names(chunks[is.na(matched_chunks)]), quote_symbol = "`")
+      )
+    )
+  }
+
+  matched_chunks <- matched_chunks[!is.na(matched_chunks)]
+
+  chunks <- chunks[matched_chunks]
+  chunk_duration <- c(
+    "second" = 1L,
+    "minute" = 60L,
+    "hour" = 3600L,
+    "day" = 86400L,
+    "week" = 604800L
+  )
+
+  # transform the duration of each chunk in seconds and add everything together
+  duration <- 0
+  for (chunk in names(chunks)) {
+    duration <- duration + chunks[[chunk]] * chunk_duration[[chunk]]
+  }
+  duration
+}
diff --git a/r/R/dplyr-funcs.R b/r/R/dplyr-funcs.R
index eaa6ed9dc67..c66ed04893d 100644
--- a/r/R/dplyr-funcs.R
+++ b/r/R/dplyr-funcs.R
@@ -106,6 +106,7 @@ create_binding_cache <- function() {
   register_bindings_aggregate()
   register_bindings_conditional()
   register_bindings_datetime()
+  register_bindings_difftime_constructors()
   register_bindings_duration()
   register_bindings_duration_helpers()
   register_bindings_math()
diff --git a/r/tests/testthat/test-dplyr-funcs-datetime.R b/r/tests/testthat/test-dplyr-funcs-datetime.R
index fc030779ecb..b1ff505004b 100644
--- a/r/tests/testthat/test-dplyr-funcs-datetime.R
+++ b/r/tests/testthat/test-dplyr-funcs-datetime.R
@@ -1304,3 +1304,92 @@ test_that("dminutes, dhours, ddays, dweeks, dmonths, dyears", {
     ignore_attr = TRUE
   )
 })
+
+test_that("make_difftime()", {
+  test_df <- tibble(
+    seconds = c(3, 4, 5, 6),
+    minutes = c(1.5, 2.3, 4.5, 6.7),
+    hours = c(2, 3, 4, 5),
+    days = c(6, 7, 8, 9),
+    weeks = c(1, 3, 5, NA),
+    number = 10:13
+  )
+
+  compare_dplyr_binding(
+    .input %>%
+      mutate(
+        duration_from_parts = make_difftime(
+          second = seconds,
+          minute = minutes,
+          hour = hours,
+          day = days,
+          week = weeks,
+          units = "secs"
+        ),
+        duration_from_num = make_difftime(
+          num = number,
+          units =  "secs"
+        ),
+        duration_from_r_num = make_difftime(
+          num = 154,
+          units = "secs"
+        ),
+        duration_from_r_parts = make_difftime(
+          minute = 45,
+          day = 2,
+          week = 4,
+          units = "secs"
+        )
+      ) %>%
+      collect(),
+    test_df
+  )
+
+  # named difftime parts other than `second`, `minute`, `hour`, `day` and `week`
+  # are not supported
+  expect_error(
+    expect_warning(
+      test_df %>%
+        arrow_table() %>%
+        mutate(
+          err_difftime = make_difftime(month = 2)
+        ) %>%
+        collect(),
+      paste0("named `difftime` units other than: `second`, `minute`, `hour`,",
+            " `day`, and `week` not supported in Arrow.")
+    )
+  )
+
+  # units other than "secs" not supported since they are the only ones in common
+  # between R and Arrow
+  compare_dplyr_binding(
+    .input %>%
+      mutate(error_difftime = make_difftime(num = number, units = "mins")) %>%
+      collect(),
+    test_df,
+    warning = TRUE
+  )
+
+  # constructing a difftime from both `num` and parts passed through `...` while
+  # possible with the lubridate function (resulting in a concatenation of the 2
+  # resulting objects), it errors in a dplyr context
+  expect_error(
+    expect_warning(
+      test_df %>%
+        arrow_table() %>%
+        mutate(
+          duration_from_num_and_parts = make_difftime(
+            num = number,
+            second = seconds,
+            minute = minutes,
+            hour = hours,
+            day = days,
+            week = weeks,
+            units = "secs"
+          )
+        ) %>%
+        collect(),
+      "with both `num` and `...` not supported in Arrow"
+    )
+  )
+})