diff --git a/src/iceberg/arrow_c_data_guard_internal.h b/src/iceberg/arrow_c_data_guard_internal.h
index f624f74c5..1b1417a95 100644
--- a/src/iceberg/arrow_c_data_guard_internal.h
+++ b/src/iceberg/arrow_c_data_guard_internal.h
@@ -46,6 +46,12 @@ class ICEBERG_EXPORT ArrowSchemaGuard {
   explicit ArrowSchemaGuard(ArrowSchema* schema) : schema_(schema) {}
   ~ArrowSchemaGuard();
 
+  /// \brief Release the guard without calling ArrowSchemaRelease.
+  ///
+  /// Call this when ownership of the underlying ArrowSchema has been
+  /// transferred elsewhere and the guard should not release it.
+  void Release() { schema_ = nullptr; }
+
  private:
   ArrowSchema* schema_;
 };
diff --git a/src/iceberg/schema_internal.cc b/src/iceberg/schema_internal.cc
index 5dac0d3bf..810e53695 100644
--- a/src/iceberg/schema_internal.cc
+++ b/src/iceberg/schema_internal.cc
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 #include <optional>
 #include <string>
 
+#include "iceberg/arrow_c_data_guard_internal.h"
 #include "iceberg/constants.h"
 #include "iceberg/schema.h"
 #include "iceberg/type.h"
@@ -71,6 +72,7 @@ ArrowErrorCode ToArrowSchema(const Type& type, bool optional, std::string_view n
                              std::optional<int32_t> field_id, ArrowSchema* schema) {
   ArrowBuffer metadata_buffer;
   NANOARROW_RETURN_NOT_OK(ArrowMetadataBuilderInit(&metadata_buffer, nullptr));
+  internal::ArrowArrayBufferGuard metadata_buffer_guard(&metadata_buffer);
   if (field_id.has_value()) {
     NANOARROW_RETURN_NOT_OK(ArrowMetadataBuilderAppend(
         &metadata_buffer, ArrowCharView(std::string(kParquetFieldIdKey).c_str()),
@@ -183,7 +185,6 @@ ArrowErrorCode ToArrowSchema(const Type& type, bool optional, std::string_view n
     case TypeId::kVariant:
     case TypeId::kGeometry:
     case TypeId::kGeography:
-      ArrowBufferReset(&metadata_buffer);
       return EINVAL;
   }
 
@@ -193,7 +194,6 @@ ArrowErrorCode ToArrowSchema(const Type& type, bool optional, std::string_view n
 
   NANOARROW_RETURN_NOT_OK(ArrowSchemaSetMetadata(
       schema, reinterpret_cast<const char*>(metadata_buffer.data)));
-  ArrowBufferReset(&metadata_buffer);
 
   if (optional) {
     schema->flags |= ARROW_FLAG_NULLABLE;
@@ -214,6 +214,7 @@ Status ToArrowSchema(const Schema& schema, ArrowSchema* out) {
   ICEBERG_RETURN_UNEXPECTED(CheckArrowCompatible(schema));
 
   ArrowSchemaInit(out);
+  internal::ArrowSchemaGuard schema_guard(out);
 
   if (ArrowErrorCode errorCode = ToArrowSchema(schema, /*optional=*/false, /*name=*/"",
                                                /*field_id=*/std::nullopt, out);
@@ -222,6 +223,7 @@ Status ToArrowSchema(const Schema& schema, ArrowSchema* out) {
         "Failed to convert Iceberg schema to Arrow schema, error code: {}", errorCode);
   }
 
+  schema_guard.Release();
   return {};
 }
 
diff --git a/src/iceberg/test/arrow_test.cc b/src/iceberg/test/arrow_test.cc
index d18a6eaf9..1ba95cdd1 100644
--- a/src/iceberg/test/arrow_test.cc
+++ b/src/iceberg/test/arrow_test.cc
@@ -130,12 +130,23 @@ TEST(ToArrowSchemaTest, UnsupportedV3Types) {
     Schema schema(
         {SchemaField::MakeOptional(/*field_id=*/1, "unsupported", unsupported_type)},
         /*schema_id=*/0);
-    ArrowSchema arrow_schema;
+    ArrowSchema arrow_schema{};
     ASSERT_THAT(ToArrowSchema(schema, &arrow_schema),
                 HasErrorMessage("is not supported by Arrow conversion"));
+    EXPECT_EQ(arrow_schema.release, nullptr);
   }
 }
 
+TEST(ToArrowSchemaTest, ReleasesSchemaOnConversionFailure) {
+  // fixed(0) passes CheckArrowCompatible but nanoarrow rejects its non-positive width.
+  Schema schema({SchemaField::MakeOptional(/*field_id=*/1, "invalid_fixed", fixed(0))},
+                /*schema_id=*/0);
+  ArrowSchema arrow_schema{};
+
+  EXPECT_THAT(ToArrowSchema(schema, &arrow_schema), IsError(ErrorKind::kInvalidSchema));
+  EXPECT_EQ(arrow_schema.release, nullptr);
+}
+
 namespace {
 
 void CheckArrowField(const ::arrow::Field& field, ::arrow::Type::type type_id,