diff --git a/cpp/cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake b/cpp/cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake
index bdfe10c99d8..e282afb727b 100644
--- a/cpp/cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake
+++ b/cpp/cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake
@@ -2230,6 +2230,13 @@ if(ARROW_TESTING)
                      1.10.0
                      USE_CONFIG
                      ${GTEST_USE_CONFIG})
+  get_target_property(gtest_cxx_standard GTest::gtest INTERFACE_COMPILE_FEATURES)
+
+  if((${gtest_cxx_standard} STREQUAL "cxx_std_11") OR (${gtest_cxx_standard} STREQUAL
+                                                       "cxx_std_14"))
+    message(FATAL_ERROR "System GTest is built with a C++ standard lower than 17. Use bundled GTest via passing in CMake flag
+-DGTest_SOURCE=\"BUNDLED\"")
+  endif()
 
   if(GTest_SOURCE STREQUAL "SYSTEM")
     find_package(PkgConfig QUIET)