diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 6a6bb511037b..14f251e2d02a 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -388,6 +388,7 @@ version = "59.0.0"
 dependencies = [
  "arrow",
  "arrow-buffer",
+ "arrow-data",
  "arrow-flight",
  "arrow-integration-test",
  "clap",
diff --git a/arrow-flight/Cargo.toml b/arrow-flight/Cargo.toml
index 46fcd0810315..c4541fdb6012 100644
--- a/arrow-flight/Cargo.toml
+++ b/arrow-flight/Cargo.toml
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ arrow-array = { workspace = true }
 arrow-buffer = { workspace = true }
 # Cast is needed to work around https://github.com/apache/arrow-rs/issues/3389
 arrow-cast = { workspace = true }
-arrow-data = { workspace = true, optional = true }
+arrow-data = { workspace = true }
 arrow-ipc = { workspace = true }
 arrow-ord = { workspace = true, optional = true }
 arrow-row = { workspace = true, optional = true }
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ all-features = true
 
 [features]
 default = []
-flight-sql = ["dep:arrow-arith", "dep:arrow-data", "dep:arrow-ord", "dep:arrow-row", "dep:arrow-select", "dep:arrow-string", "dep:once_cell", "dep:paste"]
+flight-sql = ["dep:arrow-arith", "dep:arrow-ord", "dep:arrow-row", "dep:arrow-select", "dep:arrow-string", "dep:once_cell", "dep:paste"]
 # TODO: Remove in the next release
 flight-sql-experimental = ["flight-sql"]
 tls-aws-lc= ["tonic/tls-aws-lc"]
diff --git a/arrow-flight/src/decode.rs b/arrow-flight/src/decode.rs
index 8c518ac9d454..6d5ebb04c1d1 100644
--- a/arrow-flight/src/decode.rs
+++ b/arrow-flight/src/decode.rs
@@ -15,9 +15,10 @@
 // specific language governing permissions and limitations
 // under the License.
 
-use crate::{FlightData, trailers::LazyTrailers, utils::flight_data_to_arrow_batch};
+use crate::{FlightData, trailers::LazyTrailers};
 use arrow_array::{ArrayRef, RecordBatch};
 use arrow_buffer::Buffer;
+use arrow_data::UnsafeFlag;
 use arrow_schema::{Schema, SchemaRef};
 use bytes::Bytes;
 use futures::{Stream, StreamExt, ready, stream::BoxStream};
@@ -228,6 +229,8 @@ pub struct FlightDataDecoder {
     state: Option<FlightStreamState>,
     /// Seen the end of the inner stream?
     done: bool,
+    /// Skip validation of decoded arrays (UTF-8, offset bounds, null counts).
+    skip_validation: UnsafeFlag,
 }
 
 impl Debug for FlightDataDecoder {
@@ -236,6 +239,7 @@ impl Debug for FlightDataDecoder {
             .field("response", &"<stream>")
             .field("state", &self.state)
             .field("done", &self.done)
+            .field("skip_validation", &self.skip_validation)
             .finish()
     }
 }
@@ -250,9 +254,17 @@ impl FlightDataDecoder {
             state: None,
             response: response.boxed(),
             done: false,
+            skip_validation: UnsafeFlag::new(),
         }
     }
 
+    /// # Safety
+    /// Invalid data may cause undefined behavior. Only use for trusted senders.
+    pub unsafe fn with_skip_validation(mut self) -> Self {
+        unsafe { self.skip_validation.set(true) };
+        self
+    }
+
     /// Returns the current schema for this stream
     pub fn schema(&self) -> Option<&SchemaRef> {
         self.state.as_ref().map(|state| &state.schema)
@@ -319,11 +331,27 @@ impl FlightDataDecoder {
                     ));
                 };
 
-                let batch = flight_data_to_arrow_batch(
-                    &data,
+                let record_batch = message.header_as_record_batch().ok_or_else(|| {
+                    FlightError::DecodeError(
+                        "Unable to convert flight data header to a record batch".to_string(),
+                    )
+                })?;
+                let buf = if data.data_body.as_ptr() as usize % 64 == 0 {
+                    Buffer::from(data.data_body.clone())
+                } else {
+                    Buffer::from(data.data_body.as_ref())
+                };
+                let batch = arrow_ipc::reader::RecordBatchDecoder::try_new(
+                    &buf,
+                    record_batch,
                     Arc::clone(&state.schema),
                     &state.dictionaries_by_field,
+                    &message.version(),
                 )
+                .and_then(|d| {
+                    d.with_skip_validation(self.skip_validation.clone())
+                        .read_record_batch()
+                })
                 .map_err(|e| {
                     FlightError::DecodeError(format!("Error decoding ipc RecordBatch: {e}"))
                 })?;
diff --git a/arrow-flight/src/utils.rs b/arrow-flight/src/utils.rs
index 6effb5f86aaf..0e38e7ed77aa 100644
--- a/arrow-flight/src/utils.rs
+++ b/arrow-flight/src/utils.rs
@@ -69,8 +69,13 @@ pub fn flight_data_to_arrow_batch(
             )
         })
         .map(|batch| {
+            let buf = if data.data_body.as_ptr() as usize % 64 == 0 {
+                Buffer::from(data.data_body.clone())
+            } else {
+                Buffer::from(data.data_body.as_ref())
+            };
             reader::read_record_batch(
-                &Buffer::from(data.data_body.as_ref()),
+                &buf,
                 batch,
                 schema,
                 dictionaries_by_id,
diff --git a/arrow-integration-testing/Cargo.toml b/arrow-integration-testing/Cargo.toml
index ae13d32b57a9..cb488f5ff791 100644
--- a/arrow-integration-testing/Cargo.toml
+++ b/arrow-integration-testing/Cargo.toml
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ logging = ["tracing-subscriber"]
 
 [dependencies]
 arrow = { path = "../arrow", default-features = false, features = ["test_utils", "ipc", "ipc_compression", "json", "ffi"] }
+arrow-data = { workspace = true }
 arrow-flight = { path = "../arrow-flight", default-features = false }
 arrow-integration-test = { path = "../arrow-integration-test", default-features = false }
 clap = { version = "4", default-features = false, features = ["std", "derive", "help", "error-context", "usage"] }
diff --git a/arrow-ipc/src/reader.rs b/arrow-ipc/src/reader.rs
index 6d1e799d43c9..dd7557784e53 100644
--- a/arrow-ipc/src/reader.rs
+++ b/arrow-ipc/src/reader.rs
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ impl RecordBatchDecoder<'_> {
                 let null_buffer = self.next_buffer()?;
 
                 // read the arrays for each field
-                let mut struct_arrays = vec![];
+                let mut struct_arrays = Vec::with_capacity(struct_fields.len());
                 // TODO investigate whether just knowing the number of buffers could
                 // still work
                 for struct_field in struct_fields {
@@ -474,7 +474,7 @@ pub struct RecordBatchDecoder<'a> {
 
 impl<'a> RecordBatchDecoder<'a> {
     /// Create a reader for decoding arrays from an encoded [`RecordBatch`]
-    fn try_new(
+    pub fn try_new(
         buf: &'a Buffer,
         batch: crate::RecordBatch<'a>,
         schema: SchemaRef,
@@ -530,6 +530,11 @@ impl<'a> RecordBatchDecoder<'a> {
 
     /// Specifies if validation should be skipped when reading data (defaults to `false`)
     ///
+    /// When enabled, the following checks are bypassed:
+    /// - Offset bounds (e.g. list/string offsets pointing past the end of their value buffer)
+    /// - UTF-8 validity of string columns (`Utf8` / `LargeUtf8`)
+    /// - Null count consistency and buffer length checks
+    ///
     /// Note this API is somewhat "funky" as it allows the caller to skip validation
     /// without having to use `unsafe` code. If this is ever made public
     /// it should be made clearer that this is a potentially unsafe by
@@ -538,14 +543,15 @@ impl<'a> RecordBatchDecoder<'a> {
     /// # Safety
     ///
     /// Relies on the caller only passing a flag with `true` value if they are
-    /// certain that the data is valid
-    pub(crate) fn with_skip_validation(mut self, skip_validation: UnsafeFlag) -> Self {
+    /// certain that the data is valid. Invalid data that bypasses these checks
+    /// may cause undefined behavior when the arrays are later accessed.
+    pub fn with_skip_validation(mut self, skip_validation: UnsafeFlag) -> Self {
         self.skip_validation = skip_validation;
         self
     }
 
     /// Read the record batch, consuming the reader
-    fn read_record_batch(mut self) -> Result<RecordBatch, ArrowError> {
+    pub fn read_record_batch(mut self) -> Result<RecordBatch, ArrowError> {
         let mut variadic_counts: VecDeque<i64> = self
             .batch
             .variadicBufferCounts()
@@ -557,7 +563,7 @@ impl<'a> RecordBatchDecoder<'a> {
 
         let schema = Arc::clone(&self.schema);
         if let Some(projection) = self.projection {
-            let mut arrays = vec![];
+            let mut arrays = Vec::with_capacity(projection.len());
             // project fields
             for (idx, field) in schema.fields().iter().enumerate() {
                 // A projected field can appear more than once, so collect all matching positions.
@@ -597,7 +603,7 @@ impl<'a> RecordBatchDecoder<'a> {
                 RecordBatch::try_new_with_options(schema, columns, &options)
             }
         } else {
-            let mut children = vec![];
+            let mut children = Vec::with_capacity(schema.fields().len());
             // keep track of index as lists require more than one node
             for field in schema.fields() {
                 let child = self.create_array(field, &mut variadic_counts)?;