diff --git a/arrow-buffer/src/builder/boolean.rs b/arrow-buffer/src/builder/boolean.rs
index 41a75ef3e2c1..e7696711ff56 100644
--- a/arrow-buffer/src/builder/boolean.rs
+++ b/arrow-buffer/src/builder/boolean.rs
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 // under the License.
 
 use crate::bit_util::apply_bitwise_binary_op;
-use crate::{BooleanBuffer, Buffer, MutableBuffer, bit_util};
+use crate::{BooleanBuffer, Buffer, MutableBuffer, NullBuffer, bit_util};
 use std::ops::Range;
 
 /// Builder for [`BooleanBuffer`]
@@ -275,6 +275,14 @@ impl From<BooleanBufferBuilder> for BooleanBuffer {
     }
 }
 
+impl From<BooleanBufferBuilder> for NullBuffer {
+    #[inline]
+    fn from(builder: BooleanBufferBuilder) -> Self {
+        let boolean_buffer = BooleanBuffer::from(builder);
+        NullBuffer::new(boolean_buffer)
+    }
+}
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use super::*;
diff --git a/parquet/src/arrow/array_reader/struct_array.rs b/parquet/src/arrow/array_reader/struct_array.rs
index b4a6a375334f..3c5a5f836bbe 100644
--- a/parquet/src/arrow/array_reader/struct_array.rs
+++ b/parquet/src/arrow/array_reader/struct_array.rs
@@ -18,8 +18,8 @@
 use crate::arrow::array_reader::ArrayReader;
 use crate::errors::{ParquetError, Result};
 use arrow_array::{Array, ArrayRef, StructArray, builder::BooleanBufferBuilder};
-use arrow_data::{ArrayData, ArrayDataBuilder};
-use arrow_schema::DataType as ArrowType;
+use arrow_buffer::NullBuffer;
+use arrow_schema::{DataType as ArrowType, DataType};
 use std::any::Any;
 use std::sync::Arc;
 
@@ -124,16 +124,15 @@ impl ArrayReader for StructArrayReader {
             return Err(general_err!("Not all children array length are the same!"));
         }
 
-        // Now we can build array data
-        let mut array_data_builder = ArrayDataBuilder::new(self.data_type.clone())
-            .len(children_array_len)
-            .child_data(
-                children_array
-                    .into_iter()
-                    .map(|x| x.into_data())
-                    .collect::<Vec<ArrayData>>(),
-            );
+        let DataType::Struct(fields) = &self.data_type else {
+            return Err(general_err!(
+                "Internal: StructArrayReader must have struct data type, got {:?}",
+                self.data_type
+            ));
+        };
+        let fields = fields.clone(); // cloning Fields is cheap (Arc internally)
 
+        let mut nulls = None;
         if self.nullable {
             // calculate struct def level data
 
@@ -168,12 +167,19 @@ impl ArrayReader for StructArrayReader {
             if bitmap_builder.len() != children_array_len {
                 return Err(general_err!("Failed to decode level data for struct array"));
             }
-
-            array_data_builder = array_data_builder.null_bit_buffer(Some(bitmap_builder.into()));
+            nulls = Some(NullBuffer::from(bitmap_builder));
         }
 
-        let array_data = unsafe { array_data_builder.build_unchecked() };
-        Ok(Arc::new(StructArray::from(array_data)))
+        // Safety: checked above that all children array data have same
+        // length and correct type
+        unsafe {
+            Ok(Arc::new(StructArray::new_unchecked_with_length(
+                fields,
+                children_array,
+                nulls,
+                children_array_len,
+            )))
+        }
     }
 
     fn skip_records(&mut self, num_records: usize) -> Result<usize> {