diff --git a/.github/workflows/rc.yml b/.github/workflows/rc.yml
index bc4ed5d5e6..15aae3ff9b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/rc.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/rc.yml
@@ -111,15 +111,16 @@ jobs:
       - name: Extract source archive
         run: |
           tar -xf apache-arrow-java-*.tar.gz --strip-components=1
-      - name: Download the latest Apache Arrow C++
+      - name: Download the latest Apache Arrow C++ RC
         if: github.event_name != 'schedule'
         run: |
-          ci/scripts/download_cpp.sh
+          ci/scripts/download_cpp.sh latest-rc
       - name: Checkout Apache Arrow C++
         if: github.event_name == 'schedule'
         uses: actions/checkout@v7
         with:
           repository: apache/arrow
+          ref: main
           path: arrow
       - name: Checkout apache/arrow-testing
         uses: actions/checkout@v7
@@ -178,7 +179,11 @@ jobs:
       - name: Extract source archive
         run: |
           tar -xf apache-arrow-java-*.tar.gz --strip-components=1
+      - name: Download the latest Apache Arrow C++ RC
+        if: github.event_name != 'schedule'
+        run: ci/scripts/download_cpp.sh latest-rc
       - name: Checkout Apache Arrow C++
+        if: github.event_name == 'schedule'
         uses: actions/checkout@v7
         with:
           repository: apache/arrow
@@ -267,6 +272,16 @@ jobs:
           # make brew Java available to CMake
           export JAVA_HOME=$(brew --prefix openjdk@17)/libexec/openjdk.jdk/Contents/Home
           ci/scripts/jni_macos_build.sh . arrow build jni
+      - name: Test JSON dataset read
+        run: |
+          JAVA_HOME="$(brew --prefix openjdk@17)/libexec/openjdk.jdk/Contents/Home"
+          export JAVA_HOME
+          # Install dependencies without applying the dataset-only test filter to them.
+          mvn -Parrow-jni -pl dataset -am install -DskipTests \
+            -Darrow.c.jni.dist.dir="$PWD/jni" -Darrow.cpp.build.dir="$PWD/jni"
+          mvn -Parrow-jni -pl dataset test \
+            -Darrow.c.jni.dist.dir="$PWD/jni" -Darrow.cpp.build.dir="$PWD/jni" \
+            -Dtest='TestFileSystemDataset#testBaseJsonRead'
       - name: Compress into single artifact to keep directory structure
         run: tar -cvzf jni-macos-${{ matrix.platform.arch }}.tar.gz jni/
       - name: Upload artifacts
diff --git a/Brewfile b/Brewfile
index 2c47a38af5..d25469656d 100644
--- a/Brewfile
+++ b/Brewfile
@@ -16,4 +16,5 @@
 # under the License.
 
 brew "openjdk@17"
+brew "maven"
 brew "sccache"
diff --git a/ci/scripts/jni_macos_build.sh b/ci/scripts/jni_macos_build.sh
index 32a1faefb8..49289caa86 100755
--- a/ci/scripts/jni_macos_build.sh
+++ b/ci/scripts/jni_macos_build.sh
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ export ARROW_BUILD_TESTS=OFF
 
 export ARROW_DATASET=ON
 export ARROW_GANDIVA=ON
+export ARROW_JSON=ON
 export ARROW_ORC=ON
 export ARROW_PARQUET=ON
 
@@ -73,6 +74,7 @@ cmake \
   -S "${arrow_dir}/cpp" \
   -B "${build_dir}/cpp" \
   --preset=ninja-release-jni-macos \
+  -DARROW_JSON="${ARROW_JSON}" \
   -Dabsl_SOURCE=BUNDLED \
   -Dlz4_SOURCE=BUNDLED \
   -Dsimdjson_SOURCE=BUNDLED \