diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/ipc/metadata_internal.cc b/cpp/src/arrow/ipc/metadata_internal.cc
index 05f508df31c..94bb6cbd839 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/ipc/metadata_internal.cc
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/ipc/metadata_internal.cc
@@ -286,11 +286,7 @@ Status ConcreteTypeFromFlatbuffer(flatbuf::Type type, const void* type_data,
     case flatbuf::Type::Timestamp: {
       auto ts_type = static_cast<const flatbuf::Timestamp*>(type_data);
       TimeUnit::type unit = FromFlatbufferUnit(ts_type->unit());
-      if (ts_type->timezone() != 0 && ts_type->timezone()->Length() > 0) {
-        *out = timestamp(unit, ts_type->timezone()->str());
-      } else {
-        *out = timestamp(unit);
-      }
+      *out = timestamp(unit, StringFromFlatbuffers(ts_type->timezone()));
       return Status::OK();
     }
     case flatbuf::Type::Duration: {
@@ -369,10 +365,7 @@ static Status TypeFromFlatbuffer(const flatbuf::Field* field,
                                  const KeyValueMetadata* field_metadata,
                                  std::shared_ptr<DataType>* out) {
   auto type_data = field->type();
-  if (type_data == nullptr) {
-    return Status::IOError(
-        "Type-pointer in custom metadata of flatbuffer-encoded Field is null.");
-  }
+  CHECK_FLATBUFFERS_NOT_NULL(type_data, "Field.type");
   RETURN_NOT_OK(ConcreteTypeFromFlatbuffer(field->type_type(), type_data, children, out));
 
   // Look for extension metadata in custom_metadata field
@@ -474,14 +467,8 @@ Status KeyValueMetadataFromFlatbuffer(const KVVector* fb_metadata,
 
   metadata->reserve(fb_metadata->size());
   for (const auto& pair : *fb_metadata) {
-    if (pair->key() == nullptr) {
-      return Status::IOError(
-          "Key-pointer in custom metadata of flatbuffer-encoded Schema is null.");
-    }
-    if (pair->value() == nullptr) {
-      return Status::IOError(
-          "Value-pointer in custom metadata of flatbuffer-encoded Schema is null.");
-    }
+    CHECK_FLATBUFFERS_NOT_NULL(pair->key(), "custom_metadata.key");
+    CHECK_FLATBUFFERS_NOT_NULL(pair->value(), "custom_metadata.value");
     metadata->Append(pair->key()->str(), pair->value()->str());
   }
 
@@ -776,9 +763,7 @@ Status FieldFromFlatbuffer(const flatbuf::Field* field, DictionaryMemo* dictiona
 
   // Reconstruct the data type
   auto children = field->children();
-  if (children == nullptr) {
-    return Status::IOError("Children-pointer of flatbuffer-encoded Field is null.");
-  }
+  CHECK_FLATBUFFERS_NOT_NULL(children, "Field.children");
   std::vector<std::shared_ptr<Field>> child_fields(children->size());
   for (int i = 0; i < static_cast<int>(children->size()); ++i) {
     RETURN_NOT_OK(
@@ -786,6 +771,8 @@ Status FieldFromFlatbuffer(const flatbuf::Field* field, DictionaryMemo* dictiona
   }
   RETURN_NOT_OK(TypeFromFlatbuffer(field, child_fields, metadata.get(), &type));
 
+  auto field_name = StringFromFlatbuffers(field->name());
+
   const flatbuf::DictionaryEncoding* encoding = field->dictionary();
 
   if (encoding != nullptr) {
@@ -794,22 +781,14 @@ Status FieldFromFlatbuffer(const flatbuf::Field* field, DictionaryMemo* dictiona
     // dictionary_memo
     std::shared_ptr<DataType> index_type;
     auto int_data = encoding->indexType();
-    if (int_data == nullptr) {
-      return Status::IOError(
-          "indexType-pointer in custom metadata of flatbuffer-encoded DictionaryEncoding "
-          "is null.");
-    }
+    CHECK_FLATBUFFERS_NOT_NULL(int_data, "DictionaryEncoding.indexType");
     RETURN_NOT_OK(IntFromFlatbuffer(int_data, &index_type));
     ARROW_ASSIGN_OR_RAISE(type,
                           DictionaryType::Make(index_type, type, encoding->isOrdered()));
-    *out = ::arrow::field(field->name()->str(), type, field->nullable(), metadata);
+    *out = ::arrow::field(field_name, type, field->nullable(), metadata);
     RETURN_NOT_OK(dictionary_memo->AddField(encoding->id(), *out));
   } else {
-    auto name = field->name();
-    if (name == nullptr) {
-      return Status::IOError("Name-pointer of flatbuffer-encoded Field is null.");
-    }
-    *out = ::arrow::field(name->str(), type, field->nullable(), metadata);
+    *out = ::arrow::field(field_name, type, field->nullable(), metadata);
   }
   return Status::OK();
 }
@@ -1183,17 +1162,15 @@ Status WriteFileFooter(const Schema& schema, const std::vector<FileBlock>& dicti
 Status GetSchema(const void* opaque_schema, DictionaryMemo* dictionary_memo,
                  std::shared_ptr<Schema>* out) {
   auto schema = static_cast<const flatbuf::Schema*>(opaque_schema);
-  if (schema->fields() == nullptr) {
-    return Status::IOError("Fields-pointer of flatbuffer-encoded Schema is null.");
-  }
+  CHECK_FLATBUFFERS_NOT_NULL(schema, "schema");
+  CHECK_FLATBUFFERS_NOT_NULL(schema->fields(), "Schema.fields");
   int num_fields = static_cast<int>(schema->fields()->size());
 
   std::vector<std::shared_ptr<Field>> fields(num_fields);
   for (int i = 0; i < num_fields; ++i) {
     const flatbuf::Field* field = schema->fields()->Get(i);
-    if (field == nullptr) {
-      return Status::IOError("Field-pointer of flatbuffer-encoded Schema is null.");
-    }
+    // XXX I don't think this check is necessary (AP)
+    CHECK_FLATBUFFERS_NOT_NULL(field, "DictionaryEncoding.indexType");
     RETURN_NOT_OK(FieldFromFlatbuffer(field, dictionary_memo, &fields[i]));
   }
 
@@ -1225,12 +1202,7 @@ Status GetTensorMetadata(const Buffer& metadata, std::shared_ptr<DataType>* type
     auto dim = tensor->shape()->Get(i);
 
     shape->push_back(dim->size());
-    auto fb_name = dim->name();
-    if (fb_name == 0) {
-      dim_names->push_back("");
-    } else {
-      dim_names->push_back(fb_name->str());
-    }
+    dim_names->push_back(StringFromFlatbuffers(dim->name()));
   }
 
   if (tensor->strides() && tensor->strides()->size() > 0) {
@@ -1239,11 +1211,7 @@ Status GetTensorMetadata(const Buffer& metadata, std::shared_ptr<DataType>* type
     }
   }
 
-  auto type_data = tensor->type();
-  if (type_data == nullptr) {
-    return Status::IOError(
-        "Type-pointer in custom metadata of flatbuffer-encoded Tensor is null.");
-  }
+  auto type_data = tensor->type();  // Required
   return ConcreteTypeFromFlatbuffer(tensor->type_type(), type_data, {}, type);
 }
 
@@ -1283,12 +1251,7 @@ Status GetSparseTensorMetadata(const Buffer& metadata, std::shared_ptr<DataType>
       }
 
       if (dim_names) {
-        auto fb_name = dim->name();
-        if (fb_name == 0) {
-          dim_names->push_back("");
-        } else {
-          dim_names->push_back(fb_name->str());
-        }
+        dim_names->push_back(StringFromFlatbuffers(dim->name()));
       }
     }
   }
@@ -1324,11 +1287,7 @@ Status GetSparseTensorMetadata(const Buffer& metadata, std::shared_ptr<DataType>
     }
   }
 
-  auto type_data = sparse_tensor->type();
-  if (type_data == nullptr) {
-    return Status::IOError(
-        "Type-pointer in custom metadata of flatbuffer-encoded SparseTensor is null.");
-  }
+  auto type_data = sparse_tensor->type();  // Required
   if (type) {
     return ConcreteTypeFromFlatbuffer(sparse_tensor->type_type(), type_data, {}, type);
   } else {
diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/ipc/metadata_internal.h b/cpp/src/arrow/ipc/metadata_internal.h
index b2ac81f86e7..f5ffee3fa75 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/ipc/metadata_internal.h
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/ipc/metadata_internal.h
@@ -31,20 +31,16 @@
 #include "arrow/buffer.h"
 #include "arrow/ipc/dictionary.h"  // IYWU pragma: keep
 #include "arrow/ipc/message.h"
-#include "arrow/memory_pool.h"
 #include "arrow/sparse_tensor.h"
 #include "arrow/status.h"
+#include "arrow/type_fwd.h"
+#include "arrow/util/macros.h"
 
 #include "generated/Message_generated.h"
 #include "generated/Schema_generated.h"
 
 namespace arrow {
 
-class DataType;
-class Schema;
-class Tensor;
-class SparseTensor;
-
 namespace flatbuf = org::apache::arrow::flatbuf;
 
 namespace io {
@@ -92,6 +88,23 @@ struct FileBlock {
   int64_t body_length;
 };
 
+// Low-level utilities to help with reading Flatbuffers data.
+
+#define CHECK_FLATBUFFERS_NOT_NULL(fb_value, name)             \
+  if ((fb_value) == NULLPTR) {                                 \
+    return Status::IOError("Unexpected null field ", name,     \
+                           " in flatbuffer-encoded metadata"); \
+  }
+
+template <typename T>
+inline uint32_t FlatBuffersVectorSize(const flatbuffers::Vector<T>* vec) {
+  return (vec == NULLPTR) ? 0 : vec->size();
+}
+
+inline std::string StringFromFlatbuffers(const flatbuffers::String* s) {
+  return (s == NULLPTR) ? "" : s->str();
+}
+
 // Read interface classes. We do not fully deserialize the flatbuffers so that
 // individual fields metadata can be retrieved from very large schema without
 //
diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/ipc/reader.cc b/cpp/src/arrow/ipc/reader.cc
index 8712d46d1c9..f99037a0d34 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/ipc/reader.cc
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/ipc/reader.cc
@@ -102,10 +102,7 @@ class IpcComponentSource {
 
   Status GetBuffer(int buffer_index, std::shared_ptr<Buffer>* out) {
     auto buffers = metadata_->buffers();
-    if (buffers == nullptr) {
-      return Status::IOError(
-          "Buffers-pointer of flatbuffer-encoded RecordBatch is null.");
-    }
+    CHECK_FLATBUFFERS_NOT_NULL(buffers, "RecordBatch.buffers");
     if (buffer_index >= static_cast<int>(buffers->size())) {
       return Status::IOError("buffer_index out of range.");
     }
@@ -127,9 +124,7 @@ class IpcComponentSource {
 
   Status GetFieldMetadata(int field_index, ArrayData* out) {
     auto nodes = metadata_->nodes();
-    if (nodes == nullptr) {
-      return Status::IOError("Nodes-pointer of flatbuffer-encoded Table is null.");
-    }
+    CHECK_FLATBUFFERS_NOT_NULL(nodes, "Table.nodes");
     // pop off a field
     if (field_index >= static_cast<int>(nodes->size())) {
       return Status::Invalid("Ran out of field metadata, likely malformed");
@@ -441,6 +436,7 @@ Status ReadDictionary(const Buffer& metadata, DictionaryMemo* dictionary_memo,
   // The dictionary is embedded in a record batch with a single column
   std::shared_ptr<RecordBatch> batch;
   auto batch_meta = dictionary_batch->data();
+  CHECK_FLATBUFFERS_NOT_NULL(batch_meta, "DictionaryBatch.data");
   RETURN_NOT_OK(ReadRecordBatch(batch_meta, ::arrow::schema({value_field}),
                                 dictionary_memo, options, file, &batch));
   if (batch->num_columns() != 1) {
@@ -475,9 +471,6 @@ class RecordBatchStreamReader::RecordBatchStreamReaderImpl {
     }
     CHECK_MESSAGE_TYPE(Message::SCHEMA, message->type());
     CHECK_HAS_NO_BODY(*message);
-    if (message->header() == nullptr) {
-      return Status::IOError("Header-pointer of flatbuffer-encoded Message is null.");
-    }
     return internal::GetSchema(message->header(), &dictionary_memo_, &schema_);
   }
 
@@ -663,9 +656,13 @@ class RecordBatchFileReader::RecordBatchFileReaderImpl {
     return Status::OK();
   }
 
-  int num_dictionaries() const { return footer_->dictionaries()->size(); }
+  int num_dictionaries() const {
+    return static_cast<int>(internal::FlatBuffersVectorSize(footer_->dictionaries()));
+  }
 
-  int num_record_batches() const { return footer_->recordBatches()->size(); }
+  int num_record_batches() const {
+    return static_cast<int>(internal::FlatBuffersVectorSize(footer_->recordBatches()));
+  }
 
   MetadataVersion version() const {
     return internal::GetMetadataVersion(footer_->version());