diff --git a/cpp/CMakeLists.txt b/cpp/CMakeLists.txt
index 501c541e175..052e9732994 100644
--- a/cpp/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cpp/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -555,7 +555,7 @@ if(ARROW_WITH_URIPARSER)
   list(APPEND ARROW_STATIC_INSTALL_INTERFACE_LIBS uriparser::uriparser)
 endif()
 
-if(PARQUET_BUILD_ENCRYPTION)
+if(ARROW_USE_OPENSSL)
   list(APPEND ARROW_LINK_LIBS OpenSSL::Crypto)
   list(APPEND ARROW_STATIC_LINK_LIBS OpenSSL::Crypto)
   list(APPEND ARROW_STATIC_INSTALL_INTERFACE_LIBS OpenSSL::Crypto)
diff --git a/cpp/cmake_modules/DefineOptions.cmake b/cpp/cmake_modules/DefineOptions.cmake
index d041da5ac40..99b0047b86c 100644
--- a/cpp/cmake_modules/DefineOptions.cmake
+++ b/cpp/cmake_modules/DefineOptions.cmake
@@ -275,8 +275,6 @@ Note that this requires linking Boost statically" OFF)
   #----------------------------------------------------------------------
   set_option_category("Parquet")
 
-  define_option(PARQUET_BUILD_ENCRYPTION "Build Parquet with encryption support" ON)
-
   define_option(PARQUET_MINIMAL_DEPENDENCY
                 "Depend only on Thirdparty headers to build libparquet. \
 Always OFF if building binaries" OFF)
@@ -288,6 +286,8 @@ Always OFF if building binaries" OFF)
   define_option(PARQUET_BUILD_EXAMPLES
                 "Build the Parquet examples. Requires static libraries to be built." OFF)
 
+  define_option(PARQUET_REQUIRE_ENCRYPTION "Fail if OpenSSL is not found" OFF)
+
   #----------------------------------------------------------------------
   set_option_category("Gandiva")
 
diff --git a/cpp/cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake b/cpp/cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake
index 258ba01cc11..4647fcd4026 100644
--- a/cpp/cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake
+++ b/cpp/cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake
@@ -731,8 +731,24 @@ if(ARROW_WITH_BROTLI)
   include_directories(SYSTEM ${BROTLI_INCLUDE_DIR})
 endif()
 
-if(PARQUET_BUILD_ENCRYPTION OR ARROW_WITH_GRPC)
+set(ARROW_USE_OPENSSL OFF)
+if(PARQUET_REQUIRE_ENCRYPTION AND NOT ARROW_PARQUET)
+  set(PARQUET_REQUIRE_ENCRYPTION OFF)
+endif()
+if(PARQUET_REQUIRE_ENCRYPTION OR ARROW_FLIGHT)
+  # This must work
   find_package(OpenSSL REQUIRED)
+  set(ARROW_USE_OPENSSL ON)
+elseif(ARROW_PARQUET)
+  # Enable Parquet encryption if OpenSSL is there, but don't fail if it's not
+  find_package(OpenSSL QUIET)
+  if(OPENSSL_FOUND)
+    set(ARROW_USE_OPENSSL ON)
+  endif()
+endif()
+
+if(ARROW_USE_OPENSSL)
+  message(STATUS "Building with OpenSSL support")
   # OpenSSL::SSL and OpenSSL::Crypto
   # are not available in older CMake versions (CMake < v3.2).
   if(NOT TARGET OpenSSL::SSL)
@@ -750,6 +766,8 @@ if(PARQUET_BUILD_ENCRYPTION OR ARROW_WITH_GRPC)
   endif()
 
   include_directories(SYSTEM ${OPENSSL_INCLUDE_DIR})
+else()
+  message(STATUS "Building without OpenSSL support")
 endif()
 
 # ----------------------------------------------------------------------