diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/api.h b/cpp/src/arrow/api.h
index 282b9ff2c9fcc..c73d4b386cf54 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/api.h
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/api.h
@@ -36,4 +36,7 @@
 #include "arrow/types/string.h"
 #include "arrow/types/struct.h"
 
+#include "arrow/util/memory-pool.h"
+#include "arrow/util/status.h"
+
 #endif // ARROW_API_H
diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/builder.h b/cpp/src/arrow/builder.h
index fafee91f92831..8cc689c3e81ee 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/builder.h
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/builder.h
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ class Array;
 class MemoryPool;
 class PoolBuffer;
 
-static constexpr int32_t MIN_BUILDER_CAPACITY = 1 << 8;
+static constexpr int32_t MIN_BUILDER_CAPACITY = 1 << 5;
 
 // Base class for all data array builders
 class ArrayBuilder {
diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/types/primitive-test.cc b/cpp/src/arrow/types/primitive-test.cc
index e25729dfb67dc..f35a258e2cb57 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/types/primitive-test.cc
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/types/primitive-test.cc
@@ -235,6 +235,29 @@ TYPED_TEST(TestPrimitiveBuilder, TestAppendNull) {
   }
 }
 
+TYPED_TEST(TestPrimitiveBuilder, TestArrayDtorDealloc) {
+  DECL_T();
+
+  int size = 10000;
+
+  vector<T>& draws = this->draws_;
+  vector<uint8_t>& nulls = this->nulls_;
+
+  int64_t memory_before = this->pool_->bytes_allocated();
+
+  this->RandomData(size);
+
+  int i;
+  for (i = 0; i < size; ++i) {
+    ASSERT_OK(this->builder_->Append(draws[i], nulls[i] > 0));
+  }
+
+  do {
+    std::shared_ptr<Array> result = this->builder_->Finish();
+  } while (false);
+
+  ASSERT_EQ(memory_before, this->pool_->bytes_allocated());
+}
 
 TYPED_TEST(TestPrimitiveBuilder, TestAppendScalar) {
   DECL_T();
@@ -332,11 +355,11 @@ TYPED_TEST(TestPrimitiveBuilder, TestResize) {
 }
 
 TYPED_TEST(TestPrimitiveBuilder, TestReserve) {
-  int n = 100;
-  ASSERT_OK(this->builder_->Reserve(n));
+  ASSERT_OK(this->builder_->Reserve(10));
   ASSERT_EQ(0, this->builder_->length());
   ASSERT_EQ(MIN_BUILDER_CAPACITY, this->builder_->capacity());
 
+  ASSERT_OK(this->builder_->Reserve(90));
   ASSERT_OK(this->builder_->Advance(100));
   ASSERT_OK(this->builder_->Reserve(MIN_BUILDER_CAPACITY));
 
diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/types/primitive.h b/cpp/src/arrow/types/primitive.h
index a55ac068a3b46..1073bb6e1c340 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/types/primitive.h
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/types/primitive.h
@@ -64,6 +64,8 @@ class PrimitiveArrayImpl : public PrimitiveArray {
 
   PrimitiveArrayImpl() : PrimitiveArray() {}
 
+  virtual ~PrimitiveArrayImpl() {}
+
   PrimitiveArrayImpl(int32_t length, const std::shared_ptr<Buffer>& data,
       int32_t null_count = 0,
       const std::shared_ptr<Buffer>& nulls = nullptr) {
diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/util/buffer.cc b/cpp/src/arrow/util/buffer.cc
index 3f3807d4e2094..50f4716769d70 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/util/buffer.cc
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/util/buffer.cc
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@ Buffer::Buffer(const std::shared_ptr<Buffer>& parent, int64_t offset,
   parent_ = parent;
 }
 
+Buffer::~Buffer() {}
+
 std::shared_ptr<Buffer> MutableBuffer::GetImmutableView() {
   return std::make_shared<Buffer>(this->get_shared_ptr(), 0, size());
 }
@@ -43,6 +45,12 @@ PoolBuffer::PoolBuffer(MemoryPool* pool) :
   pool_ = pool;
 }
 
+PoolBuffer::~PoolBuffer() {
+  if (mutable_data_ != nullptr) {
+    pool_->Free(mutable_data_, capacity_);
+  }
+}
+
 Status PoolBuffer::Reserve(int64_t new_capacity) {
   if (!mutable_data_ || new_capacity > capacity_) {
     uint8_t* new_data;
diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/util/buffer.h b/cpp/src/arrow/util/buffer.h
index 8704723eb0a89..0c3e210abd910 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/util/buffer.h
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/util/buffer.h
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ class Buffer : public std::enable_shared_from_this<Buffer> {
   Buffer(const uint8_t* data, int64_t size) :
       data_(data),
       size_(size) {}
+  virtual ~Buffer();
 
   // An offset into data that is owned by another buffer, but we want to be
   // able to retain a valid pointer to it even after other shared_ptr's to the
@@ -136,6 +137,7 @@ class ResizableBuffer : public MutableBuffer {
 class PoolBuffer : public ResizableBuffer {
  public:
   explicit PoolBuffer(MemoryPool* pool = nullptr);
+  virtual ~PoolBuffer();
 
   virtual Status Resize(int64_t new_size);
   virtual Status Reserve(int64_t new_capacity);
diff --git a/python/arrow/__init__.py b/python/arrow/__init__.py
index e59c6fda40b44..f3b8f4659af18 100644
--- a/python/arrow/__init__.py
+++ b/python/arrow/__init__.py
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 
 # flake8: noqa
 
-from arrow.array import Array, from_list
+from arrow.array import Array, from_list, total_allocated_bytes
 from arrow.schema import (null, bool_,
                           int8, int16, int32, int64,
                           uint8, uint16, uint32, uint64,
diff --git a/python/arrow/array.pyx b/python/arrow/array.pyx
index 3f1efe79be164..3d6df4965d0e8 100644
--- a/python/arrow/array.pyx
+++ b/python/arrow/array.pyx
@@ -25,6 +25,12 @@ cimport arrow.includes.pyarrow as pyarrow
 from arrow.compat import frombytes, tobytes
 from arrow.error cimport check_status
 
+
+def total_allocated_bytes():
+    cdef MemoryPool* pool = pyarrow.GetMemoryPool()
+    return pool.bytes_allocated()
+
+
 cdef class Array:
 
     cdef init(self, const shared_ptr[CArray]& sp_array):
diff --git a/python/arrow/includes/arrow.pxd b/python/arrow/includes/arrow.pxd
index a67c3bf5e0abc..fde5de910915a 100644
--- a/python/arrow/includes/arrow.pxd
+++ b/python/arrow/includes/arrow.pxd
@@ -51,6 +51,9 @@ cdef extern from "arrow/api.h" namespace "arrow" nogil:
 
         c_string ToString()
 
+    cdef cppclass MemoryPool" arrow::MemoryPool":
+        int64_t bytes_allocated()
+
     cdef cppclass CListType" arrow::ListType"(CDataType):
         CListType(const shared_ptr[CDataType]& value_type,
                   c_bool nullable)
diff --git a/python/arrow/includes/pyarrow.pxd b/python/arrow/includes/pyarrow.pxd
index 165d1e7f63e82..3eed5b8542493 100644
--- a/python/arrow/includes/pyarrow.pxd
+++ b/python/arrow/includes/pyarrow.pxd
@@ -18,7 +18,8 @@
 # distutils: language = c++
 
 from arrow.includes.common cimport *
-from arrow.includes.arrow cimport CArray, CDataType, LogicalType
+from arrow.includes.arrow cimport (CArray, CDataType, LogicalType,
+                                   MemoryPool)
 
 cdef extern from "pyarrow/api.h" namespace "pyarrow" nogil:
     # We can later add more of the common status factory methods as needed
@@ -40,3 +41,5 @@ cdef extern from "pyarrow/api.h" namespace "pyarrow" nogil:
 
     shared_ptr[CDataType] GetPrimitiveType(LogicalType type, c_bool nullable)
     Status ConvertPySequence(object obj, shared_ptr[CArray]* out)
+
+    MemoryPool* GetMemoryPool()
diff --git a/python/arrow/tests/test_convert_builtin.py b/python/arrow/tests/test_convert_builtin.py
index 1a926acf24d6c..731ed2c0eb77e 100644
--- a/python/arrow/tests/test_convert_builtin.py
+++ b/python/arrow/tests/test_convert_builtin.py
@@ -42,6 +42,13 @@ def test_integer(self):
         assert arr.null_count == 2
         assert arr.type == arrow.int64()
 
+    def test_garbage_collection(self):
+        import gc
+        bytes_before = arrow.total_allocated_bytes()
+        arrow.from_list([1, None, 3, None])
+        gc.collect()
+        assert arrow.total_allocated_bytes() == bytes_before
+
     def test_double(self):
         pass