diff --git a/cpp/CMakeLists.txt b/cpp/CMakeLists.txt
index fa696707869..b8a0154716b 100644
--- a/cpp/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cpp/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -796,8 +796,8 @@ set(ARROW_TEST_STATIC_LINK_LIBS
   arrow_testing_static
   arrow_static
   ${ARROW_LINK_LIBS}
-  gtest_main_static
-  gtest_static)
+  ${GTEST_MAIN_LIBRARY}
+  ${GTEST_LIBRARY})
 
 set(ARROW_TEST_SHARED_LINK_LIBS
   arrow_testing_shared
@@ -807,8 +807,8 @@ set(ARROW_TEST_SHARED_LINK_LIBS
   ${BOOST_SYSTEM_LIBRARY}
   ${BOOST_FILESYSTEM_LIBRARY}
   ${BOOST_REGEX_LIBRARY}
-  gtest_main_static
-  gtest_static)
+  ${GTEST_MAIN_LIBRARY}
+  ${GTEST_LIBRARY})
 
 if(NOT MSVC)
   set(ARROW_TEST_SHARED_LINK_LIBS
diff --git a/cpp/cmake_modules/BuildUtils.cmake b/cpp/cmake_modules/BuildUtils.cmake
index fffd15819f8..f2ddad5c45c 100644
--- a/cpp/cmake_modules/BuildUtils.cmake
+++ b/cpp/cmake_modules/BuildUtils.cmake
@@ -478,7 +478,7 @@ function(ADD_TEST_CASE REL_TEST_NAME)
       bash -c "cd '${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}'; \
                valgrind --suppressions=valgrind.supp --tool=memcheck --gen-suppressions=all \
                  --leak-check=full --leak-check-heuristics=stdstring --error-exitcode=1 ${TEST_PATH}")
-  elseif(MSVC)
+  elseif(WIN32)
     add_test(${TEST_NAME} ${TEST_PATH})
   else()
     add_test(${TEST_NAME}
diff --git a/cpp/cmake_modules/FindGTest.cmake b/cpp/cmake_modules/FindGTest.cmake
index 8a31ae6e063..c7496c6a3b9 100644
--- a/cpp/cmake_modules/FindGTest.cmake
+++ b/cpp/cmake_modules/FindGTest.cmake
@@ -28,7 +28,9 @@
 #  GTEST_INCLUDE_DIR, directory containing headers
 #  GTEST_LIBS, directory containing gtest libraries
 #  GTEST_STATIC_LIB, path to libgtest.a
+#  GTEST_STATIC_MAIN_LIB, path to libgtest_main.a
 #  GTEST_SHARED_LIB, path to libgtest's shared library
+#  GTEST_SHARED_MAIN_LIB, path to libgtest_main's shared library
 #  GTEST_FOUND, whether gtest has been found
 
 if( NOT "${GTEST_HOME}" STREQUAL "")
@@ -38,34 +40,60 @@ elseif ( GTest_HOME )
     list( APPEND _gtest_roots ${GTest_HOME} )
 endif()
 
+set(GTEST_STATIC_LIB_NAME
+  ${CMAKE_STATIC_LIBRARY_PREFIX}gtest${CMAKE_STATIC_LIBRARY_SUFFIX})
+set(GTEST_MAIN_STATIC_LIB_NAME
+  ${CMAKE_STATIC_LIBRARY_PREFIX}gtest_main${CMAKE_STATIC_LIBRARY_SUFFIX})
+set(GTEST_SHARED_LIB_NAME
+  ${CMAKE_SHARED_LIBRARY_PREFIX}gtest${CMAKE_SHARED_LIBRARY_SUFFIX})
+set(GTEST_MAIN_SHARED_LIB_NAME
+  ${CMAKE_SHARED_LIBRARY_PREFIX}gtest_main${CMAKE_SHARED_LIBRARY_SUFFIX})
+
 # Try the parameterized roots, if they exist
-if ( _gtest_roots )
-    find_path( GTEST_INCLUDE_DIR NAMES gtest/gtest.h
-        PATHS ${_gtest_roots} NO_DEFAULT_PATH
-        PATH_SUFFIXES "include" )
-    find_library( GTEST_LIBRARIES NAMES gtest gtest_main
-        PATHS ${_gtest_roots} NO_DEFAULT_PATH
-        PATH_SUFFIXES "lib" )
-else ()
-    find_path( GTEST_INCLUDE_DIR NAMES gtest/gtest.h )
-    find_library( GTEST_LIBRARIES NAMES gtest )
-endif ()
+if(_gtest_roots)
+  find_path(GTEST_INCLUDE_DIR NAMES gtest/gtest.h
+    PATHS ${_gtest_roots} NO_DEFAULT_PATH
+    PATH_SUFFIXES "include")
+  set(lib_dirs
+    "lib/${CMAKE_LIBRARY_ARCHITECTURE}"
+    "lib64"
+    "lib")
+  find_library(GTEST_STATIC_LIB NAMES ${GTEST_STATIC_LIB_NAME}
+    PATHS ${_gtest_roots} NO_DEFAULT_PATH
+    PATH_SUFFIXES ${lib_dirs})
+  find_library(GTEST_MAIN_STATIC_LIB NAMES ${GTEST_MAIN_STATIC_LIB_NAME}
+    PATHS ${_gtest_roots} NO_DEFAULT_PATH
+    PATH_SUFFIXES ${lib_dirs})
+  find_library(GTEST_SHARED_LIB NAMES ${GTEST_SHARED_LIB_NAME}
+    PATHS ${_gtest_roots} NO_DEFAULT_PATH
+    PATH_SUFFIXES ${lib_dirs})
+  find_library(GTEST_MAIN_SHARED_LIB NAMES ${GTEST_MAIN_SHARED_LIB_NAME}
+    PATHS ${_gtest_roots} NO_DEFAULT_PATH
+    PATH_SUFFIXES ${lib_dirs})
+else()
+  find_path(GTEST_INCLUDE_DIR NAMES gtest/gtest.h)
+  find_library(GTEST_STATIC_LIB NAMES ${GTEST_STATIC_LIB_NAME})
+  find_library(GTEST_MAIN_STATIC_LIB NAMES ${GTEST_MAIN_STATIC_LIB_NAME})
+  find_library(GTEST_SHARED_LIB NAMES ${GTEST_SHARED_LIB_NAME})
+  find_library(GTEST_MAIN_SHARED_LIB NAMES ${GTEST_MAIN_SHARED_LIB_NAME})
+endif()
 
 
-if (GTEST_INCLUDE_DIR AND GTEST_LIBRARIES)
+if(GTEST_INCLUDE_DIR AND
+    (GTEST_STATIC_LIB AND GTEST_MAIN_STATIC_LIB) OR
+    (GTEST_SHARED_LIB AND GTEST_MAIN_SHARED_LIB))
   set(GTEST_FOUND TRUE)
-  get_filename_component( GTEST_LIBS ${GTEST_LIBRARIES} PATH )
-  set(GTEST_LIB_NAME gtest)
-  set(GTEST_STATIC_LIB ${GTEST_LIBS}/${CMAKE_STATIC_LIBRARY_PREFIX}${GTEST_LIB_NAME}${CMAKE_STATIC_LIBRARY_SUFFIX})
-  set(GTEST_MAIN_STATIC_LIB ${GTEST_LIBS}/${CMAKE_STATIC_LIBRARY_PREFIX}${GTEST_LIB_NAME}_main${CMAKE_STATIC_LIBRARY_SUFFIX})
-  set(GTEST_SHARED_LIB ${GTEST_LIBS}/${CMAKE_SHARED_LIBRARY_PREFIX}${GTEST_LIB_NAME}${CMAKE_SHARED_LIBRARY_SUFFIX})
-else ()
+else()
   set(GTEST_FOUND FALSE)
-endif ()
+endif()
 
 if (GTEST_FOUND)
   if (NOT GTest_FIND_QUIETLY)
-    message(STATUS "Found the GTest library: ${GTEST_LIBRARIES}")
+    message(STATUS "Found the GTest library:")
+    message(STATUS "GTEST_STATIC_LIB: ${GTEST_STATIC_LIB}")
+    message(STATUS "GTEST_MAIN_STATIC_LIB: ${GTEST_MAIN_STATIC_LIB}")
+    message(STATUS "GTEST_SHARED_LIB: ${GTEST_SHARED_LIB}")
+    message(STATUS "GTEST_MAIN_SHARED_LIB: ${GTEST_MAIN_SHARED_LIB}")
   endif ()
 else ()
   if (NOT GTest_FIND_QUIETLY)
@@ -86,7 +114,8 @@ endif ()
 mark_as_advanced(
   GTEST_INCLUDE_DIR
   GTEST_LIBS
-  GTEST_LIBRARIES
   GTEST_STATIC_LIB
+  GTEST_MAIN_STATIC_LIB
   GTEST_SHARED_LIB
+  GTEST_MAIN_SHARED_LIB
 )
diff --git a/cpp/cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake b/cpp/cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake
index 1668c00cd44..5a75a9b00d7 100644
--- a/cpp/cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake
+++ b/cpp/cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake
@@ -634,16 +634,28 @@ if(ARROW_BUILD_TESTS OR ARROW_BUILD_BENCHMARKS)
   endif()
 
   message(STATUS "GTest include dir: ${GTEST_INCLUDE_DIR}")
-  message(STATUS "GTest static library: ${GTEST_STATIC_LIB}")
   include_directories(SYSTEM ${GTEST_INCLUDE_DIR})
-  ADD_THIRDPARTY_LIB(gtest
-    STATIC_LIB ${GTEST_STATIC_LIB})
-  ADD_THIRDPARTY_LIB(gtest_main
-    STATIC_LIB ${GTEST_MAIN_STATIC_LIB})
+  if(GTEST_STATIC_LIB)
+    message(STATUS "GTest static library: ${GTEST_STATIC_LIB}")
+    ADD_THIRDPARTY_LIB(gtest
+      STATIC_LIB ${GTEST_STATIC_LIB})
+    ADD_THIRDPARTY_LIB(gtest_main
+      STATIC_LIB ${GTEST_MAIN_STATIC_LIB})
+    set(GTEST_LIBRARY gtest_static)
+    set(GTEST_MAIN_LIBRARY gtest_main_static)
+  else()
+    message(STATUS "GTest shared library: ${GTEST_SHARED_LIB}")
+    ADD_THIRDPARTY_LIB(gtest
+      SHARED_LIB ${GTEST_SHARED_LIB})
+    ADD_THIRDPARTY_LIB(gtest_main
+      SHARED_LIB ${GTEST_MAIN_SHARED_LIB})
+    set(GTEST_LIBRARY gtest_shared)
+    set(GTEST_MAIN_LIBRARY gtest_main_shared)
+  endif()
 
   if(GTEST_VENDORED)
-    add_dependencies(gtest_static googletest_ep)
-    add_dependencies(gtest_main_static googletest_ep)
+    add_dependencies(${GTEST_LIBRARY} googletest_ep)
+    add_dependencies(${GTEST_MAIN_LIBRARY} googletest_ep)
   endif()
 endif()
 
diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/CMakeLists.txt b/cpp/src/arrow/CMakeLists.txt
index 244d0b9342f..a33fce372d7 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -241,8 +241,8 @@ if (ARROW_BUILD_TESTS OR ARROW_BUILD_BENCHMARKS)
   ADD_ARROW_LIB(arrow_testing
     SOURCES test-util.cc
     OUTPUTS ARROW_TESTING_LIBRARIES
-    DEPENDENCIES gtest_static
-    SHARED_LINK_LIBS arrow_shared gtest_static
+    DEPENDENCIES ${GTEST_LIBRARY}
+    SHARED_LINK_LIBS arrow_shared ${GTEST_LIBRARY}
     STATIC_LINK_LIBS arrow_static)
 
   if (ARROW_BUILD_STATIC AND WIN32)
diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/flight/CMakeLists.txt b/cpp/src/arrow/flight/CMakeLists.txt
index 41d49a12008..b0006ac7f5c 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/flight/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/flight/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ if (ARROW_BUILD_TESTS OR ARROW_BUILD_BENCHMARKS)
   target_link_libraries(flight-test-server
     ${ARROW_FLIGHT_TEST_STATIC_LINK_LIBS}
     gflags_static
-    gtest_static)
+    ${GTEST_LIBRARY})
 
   # This is needed for the unit tests
   if (ARROW_BUILD_TESTS)
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ if (ARROW_BUILD_BENCHMARKS)
     arrow_flight_static
     ${ARROW_FLIGHT_STATIC_LINK_LIBS}
     gflags_static
-    gtest_static)
+    ${GTEST_LIBRARY})
 
   add_executable(flight-benchmark
     flight-benchmark.cc
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ if (ARROW_BUILD_BENCHMARKS)
     arrow_flight_static
     ${ARROW_FLIGHT_STATIC_LINK_LIBS}
     gflags_static
-    gtest_static)
+    ${GTEST_LIBRARY})
 
   add_dependencies(flight-benchmark flight-perf-server)
 endif(ARROW_BUILD_BENCHMARKS)
diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/gpu/CMakeLists.txt b/cpp/src/arrow/gpu/CMakeLists.txt
index 2fcdf23e42a..204cb5e313f 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/gpu/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/gpu/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ if (ARROW_BUILD_BENCHMARKS)
   cuda_add_executable(arrow-cuda-benchmark cuda-benchmark.cc)
   target_link_libraries(arrow-cuda-benchmark
     arrow_cuda_shared
-    gtest_static
+    ${GTEST_LIBRARY}
     ${ARROW_BENCHMARK_LINK_LIBS})
   add_dependencies(arrow_cuda-benchmarks arrow-cuda-benchmark)
 endif()
diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/io/test-common.h b/cpp/src/arrow/io/test-common.h
index a091b01d32c..d33e1011756 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/io/test-common.h
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/io/test-common.h
@@ -25,16 +25,11 @@
 #include <string>
 #include <vector>
 
-#ifndef _MSC_VER
-#include <fcntl.h>
-#endif
-
-#if defined(__MINGW32__)  // MinGW
-// nothing
-#elif defined(_MSC_VER)  // Visual Studio
+#ifdef _WIN32
+#include <crtdbg.h>
 #include <io.h>
-#else  // POSIX / Linux
-// nothing
+#else
+#include <fcntl.h>
 #endif
 
 #include "arrow/buffer.h"
@@ -64,7 +59,7 @@ static inline bool FileExists(const std::string& path) {
   return std::ifstream(path.c_str()).good();
 }
 
-#if defined(_MSC_VER)
+#if defined(_WIN32)
 static inline void InvalidParamHandler(const wchar_t* expr, const wchar_t* func,
                                        const wchar_t* source_file,
                                        unsigned int source_line, uintptr_t reserved) {
@@ -74,7 +69,7 @@ static inline void InvalidParamHandler(const wchar_t* expr, const wchar_t* func,
 #endif
 
 static inline bool FileIsClosed(int fd) {
-#if defined(_MSC_VER)
+#if defined(_WIN32)
   // Disables default behavior on wrong params which causes the application to crash
   // https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ksazx244.aspx
   _set_invalid_parameter_handler(InvalidParamHandler);
diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/python/CMakeLists.txt b/cpp/src/arrow/python/CMakeLists.txt
index 0f037ad4b05..7f1a0b5086e 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/python/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/python/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ if (ARROW_BUILD_TESTS)
 	util/test_main.cc)
 
   target_link_libraries(arrow_python_test_main
-    gtest_static)
+    ${GTEST_LIBRARY})
   target_include_directories(arrow_python_test_main SYSTEM PUBLIC
     ${ARROW_PYTHON_INCLUDES})
 
diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/python/util/CMakeLists.txt b/cpp/src/arrow/python/util/CMakeLists.txt
index 8edde12558f..30c75ef4509 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/python/util/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/python/util/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -25,13 +25,13 @@ if (PYARROW_BUILD_TESTS)
 
   if (APPLE)
 	target_link_libraries(arrow/python_test_main
-      gtest_static
+      ${GTEST_LIBRARY}
       dl)
 	set_target_properties(arrow/python_test_main
       PROPERTIES LINK_FLAGS "-undefined dynamic_lookup")
   else()
 	target_link_libraries(arrow/python_test_main
-      gtest_static
+      ${GTEST_LIBRARY}
       pthread
       dl
 	  )
diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/util/CMakeLists.txt b/cpp/src/arrow/util/CMakeLists.txt
index 54ff5674fdf..fefc8d6da80 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/util/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/util/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ if (ARROW_BUILD_BENCHMARKS)
   endif()
 
   # TODO(wesm): Some benchmarks include gtest.h
-  add_dependencies(arrow_benchmark_main gtest_static)
+  add_dependencies(arrow_benchmark_main ${GTEST_LIBRARY})
 endif()
 
 ADD_ARROW_TEST(bit-util-test)
diff --git a/cpp/src/parquet/CMakeLists.txt b/cpp/src/parquet/CMakeLists.txt
index f6796726fce..96eb90e4a20 100644
--- a/cpp/src/parquet/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cpp/src/parquet/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -81,8 +81,8 @@ if(MSVC)
 endif()
 
 set(PARQUET_MIN_TEST_LIBS
-  gtest_main_static
-  gtest_static)
+  ${GTEST_MAIN_LIBRARY}
+  ${GTEST_LIBRARY})
 
 if (APPLE)
   set(PARQUET_MIN_TEST_LIBS