diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/util/io-util.h b/cpp/src/arrow/util/io-util.h
index 864e1bde749..2a01be10449 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/util/io-util.h
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/util/io-util.h
@@ -51,6 +51,29 @@ class StdoutStream : public OutputStream {
   int64_t pos_;
 };
 
+// Output stream that just writes to stderr.
+class StderrStream : public OutputStream {
+ public:
+  StderrStream() : pos_(0) { set_mode(FileMode::WRITE); }
+  ~StderrStream() override {}
+
+  Status Close() override { return Status::OK(); }
+
+  Status Tell(int64_t* position) const override {
+    *position = pos_;
+    return Status::OK();
+  }
+
+  Status Write(const void* data, int64_t nbytes) override {
+    pos_ += nbytes;
+    std::cerr.write(reinterpret_cast<const char*>(data), nbytes);
+    return Status::OK();
+  }
+
+ private:
+  int64_t pos_;
+};
+
 // Input stream that just reads from stdin.
 class StdinStream : public InputStream {
  public: