diff --git a/cpp/cmake_modules/Findc-aresAlt.cmake b/cpp/cmake_modules/Findc-aresAlt.cmake
deleted file mode 100644
index a769fb533ee..00000000000
--- a/cpp/cmake_modules/Findc-aresAlt.cmake
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,41 +0,0 @@
-# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
-# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
-# distributed with this work for additional information
-# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
-# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
-# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
-# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
-#
-#   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-#
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
-# software distributed under the License is distributed on an
-# "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
-# KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
-# specific language governing permissions and limitations
-# under the License.
-
-if(c-ares_ROOT)
-  find_library(CARES_LIB
-               NAMES cares
-               PATHS ${c-ares_ROOT}
-               PATH_SUFFIXES ${LIB_PATH_SUFFIXES}
-               NO_DEFAULT_PATH)
-  find_path(CARES_INCLUDE_DIR
-            NAMES ares.h
-            PATHS ${c-ares_ROOT}
-            NO_DEFAULT_PATH
-            PATH_SUFFIXES ${INCLUDE_PATH_SUFFIXES})
-else()
-  find_library(CARES_LIB NAMES cares PATH_SUFFIXES ${LIB_PATH_SUFFIXES})
-  find_path(CARES_INCLUDE_DIR NAMES ares.h PATH_SUFFIXES ${INCLUDE_PATH_SUFFIXES})
-endif()
-
-find_package_handle_standard_args(c-aresAlt REQUIRED_VARS CARES_INCLUDE_DIR CARES_LIB)
-
-if(c-aresAlt_FOUND)
-  add_library(c-ares::cares UNKNOWN IMPORTED)
-  set_target_properties(c-ares::cares
-                        PROPERTIES IMPORTED_LOCATION "${CARES_LIB}"
-                                   INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES "${CARES_INCLUDE_DIR}")
-endif()
diff --git a/cpp/cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake b/cpp/cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake
index 2c4a4971dea..e9dfa07061b 100644
--- a/cpp/cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake
+++ b/cpp/cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake
@@ -2055,22 +2055,14 @@ endmacro()
 
 if(ARROW_WITH_GRPC)
   if(c-ares_SOURCE STREQUAL "AUTO")
-    find_package(c-ares QUIET)
+    find_package(c-ares QUIET CONFIG)
     if(NOT c-ares_FOUND)
-      # Fedora doesn't package the CMake config
-      find_package(c-aresAlt)
-    endif()
-    if(NOT c-ares_FOUND AND NOT c-aresAlt_FOUND)
       build_cares()
     endif()
   elseif(c-ares_SOURCE STREQUAL "BUNDLED")
     build_cares()
   elseif(c-ares_SOURCE STREQUAL "SYSTEM")
-    find_package(c-ares QUIET)
-    if(NOT c-ares_FOUND)
-      # Fedora doesn't package the CMake config
-      find_package(c-aresAlt REQUIRED)
-    endif()
+    find_package(c-ares REQUIRED CONFIG)
   endif()
 
   # TODO: Don't use global includes but rather target_include_directories