diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/filesystem/filesystem_test.cc b/cpp/src/arrow/filesystem/filesystem_test.cc
index 8477647b2cd73..5072c3a8c25b1 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/filesystem/filesystem_test.cc
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/filesystem/filesystem_test.cc
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 #include <utility>
 #include <vector>
 
+#include <gmock/gmock.h>
 #include <gtest/gtest.h>
 
 #include "arrow/filesystem/filesystem.h"
@@ -632,6 +633,13 @@ TEST_F(TestMockFS, FileSystemFromUri) {
   ASSERT_OK_AND_ASSIGN(fs_, FileSystemFromUri("mock:///foo/bar?q=zzz", &path));
   ASSERT_EQ(path, "foo/bar");
   CheckDirs({});
+  ASSERT_OK_AND_ASSIGN(fs_, FileSystemFromUri("mock:/folder+name/bar?q=zzz", &path));
+  ASSERT_EQ(path, "folder+name/bar");
+  CheckDirs({});
+  EXPECT_RAISES_WITH_MESSAGE_THAT(
+      Invalid, ::testing::HasSubstr("syntax error at character ' ' (position 12)"),
+      FileSystemFromUri("mock:/folder name/bar", &path));
+  CheckDirs({});
 }
 
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/util/uri.cc b/cpp/src/arrow/util/uri.cc
index 9c0f7f9a59630..6c0787a87e046 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/util/uri.cc
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/util/uri.cc
@@ -250,9 +250,16 @@ Status Uri::Parse(const std::string& uri_string) {
   const auto& s = impl_->KeepString(uri_string);
   impl_->string_rep_ = s;
   const char* error_pos;
-  if (uriParseSingleUriExA(&impl_->uri_, s.data(), s.data() + s.size(), &error_pos) !=
-      URI_SUCCESS) {
-    return Status::Invalid("Cannot parse URI: '", uri_string, "'");
+  int retval =
+      uriParseSingleUriExA(&impl_->uri_, s.data(), s.data() + s.size(), &error_pos);
+  if (retval != URI_SUCCESS) {
+    if (retval == URI_ERROR_SYNTAX) {
+      return Status::Invalid("Cannot parse URI: '", uri_string,
+                             "' due to syntax error at character '", *error_pos,
+                             "' (position ", error_pos - s.data(), ")");
+    } else {
+      return Status::Invalid("Cannot parse URI: '", uri_string, "'");
+    }
   }
 
   const auto scheme = TextRangeToView(impl_->uri_.scheme);