diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/io/CMakeLists.txt b/cpp/src/arrow/io/CMakeLists.txt
index a1892a9294a..f285180c514 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/io/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/io/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -56,6 +56,10 @@ if(ARROW_HDFS)
 
   if (DEFINED ENV{HADOOP_HOME})
     set(HADOOP_HOME $ENV{HADOOP_HOME})
+    if (NOT EXISTS "${HADOOP_HOME}/include/hdfs.h")
+      message(STATUS "Did not find hdfs.h in expected location, using vendored one")
+      set(HADOOP_HOME "${THIRDPARTY_DIR}/hadoop")
+    endif()
   else()
     set(HADOOP_HOME "${THIRDPARTY_DIR}/hadoop")
   endif()