diff --git a/ci/docker/conda-python-cpython-debug.dockerfile b/ci/docker/conda-python-cpython-debug.dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..87bdcafe4092a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci/docker/conda-python-cpython-debug.dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+# software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+# "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+# KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+# specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+
+ARG repo
+ARG arch
+ARG python=3.8
+FROM ${repo}:${arch}-conda-python-${python}
+
+# (Docker oddity: ARG needs to be repeated after FROM)
+ARG python=3.8
+RUN mamba install -y "conda-forge/label/python_debug::python=${python}[build=*_cpython]" && \
+    mamba clean --all
+# Quick check that we do have a debug mode CPython
+RUN python -c "import sys; sys.gettotalrefcount()"
diff --git a/dev/tasks/tasks.yml b/dev/tasks/tasks.yml
index 3b00bc0040bd1..07a4d638f1291 100644
--- a/dev/tasks/tasks.yml
+++ b/dev/tasks/tasks.yml
@@ -1205,6 +1205,14 @@ tasks:
       image: conda-python
 {% endfor %}
 
+  test-conda-python-3.12-cpython-debug:
+    ci: github
+    template: docker-tests/github.linux.yml
+    params:
+      env:
+        PYTHON: 3.12
+      image: conda-python-cpython-debug
+
   test-conda-python-emscripten:
     ci: github
     template: docker-tests/github.linux.yml
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index cf22324f7cfb4..daa5c74bcb969 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -119,6 +119,7 @@ x-hierarchy:
       - conda-python:
         - conda-python-pandas:
           - conda-python-docs
+        - conda-python-cpython-debug
         - conda-python-cython2
         - conda-python-dask
         - conda-python-emscripten
@@ -1440,6 +1441,30 @@ services:
     volumes: *conda-volumes
     command: *python-conda-command
 
+  conda-python-cpython-debug:
+    # Usage:
+    #   docker-compose build conda
+    #   docker-compose build conda-cpp
+    #   docker-compose build conda-python
+    #   docker-compose build conda-python-cpython-debug
+    #   docker-compose run --rm conda-python-cpython-debug
+    image: ${REPO}:${ARCH}-conda-python-${PYTHON}-cpython-debug
+    build:
+      context: .
+      dockerfile: ci/docker/conda-python-cpython-debug.dockerfile
+      cache_from:
+        - ${REPO}:${ARCH}-conda-python-${PYTHON}-cpython-debug
+      args:
+        repo: ${REPO}
+        arch: ${ARCH}
+        python: ${PYTHON}
+    shm_size: *shm-size
+    environment:
+      <<: [*common, *ccache]
+      PYTEST_ARGS:  # inherit
+    volumes: *conda-volumes
+    command: *python-conda-command
+
   ################################## R ########################################
 
   ubuntu-r: