diff --git a/cpp/src/parquet/column/levels.h b/cpp/src/parquet/column/levels.h
index fd84ec9d21c11..20261df37c48d 100644
--- a/cpp/src/parquet/column/levels.h
+++ b/cpp/src/parquet/column/levels.h
@@ -31,6 +31,28 @@ class LevelEncoder {
  public:
   LevelEncoder() {}
 
+  static int MaxBufferSize(
+      Encoding::type encoding, int16_t max_level, int num_buffered_values) {
+    int bit_width = BitUtil::Log2(max_level + 1);
+    int num_bytes = 0;
+    switch (encoding) {
+      case Encoding::RLE: {
+        // TODO: Due to the way we currently check if the buffer is full enough,
+        // we need to have MinBufferSize as head room.
+        num_bytes = RleEncoder::MaxBufferSize(bit_width, num_buffered_values) +
+                    RleEncoder::MinBufferSize(bit_width);
+        break;
+      }
+      case Encoding::BIT_PACKED: {
+        num_bytes = BitUtil::Ceil(num_buffered_values * bit_width, 8);
+        break;
+      }
+      default:
+        throw ParquetException("Unknown encoding type for levels.");
+    }
+    return num_bytes;
+  }
+
   // Initialize the LevelEncoder.
   void Init(Encoding::type encoding, int16_t max_level, int num_buffered_values,
       uint8_t* data, int data_size) {
diff --git a/cpp/src/parquet/column/writer.cc b/cpp/src/parquet/column/writer.cc
index 0472adb3400db..a23610c34b8d0 100644
--- a/cpp/src/parquet/column/writer.cc
+++ b/cpp/src/parquet/column/writer.cc
@@ -62,7 +62,9 @@ void ColumnWriter::WriteRepetitionLevels(int64_t num_levels, int16_t* levels) {
 std::shared_ptr<Buffer> ColumnWriter::RleEncodeLevels(
     const std::shared_ptr<Buffer>& buffer, int16_t max_level) {
   // TODO: This only works with due to some RLE specifics
-  int64_t rle_size = 2 * num_buffered_values_ + sizeof(uint32_t);
+  int64_t rle_size =
+      LevelEncoder::MaxBufferSize(Encoding::RLE, max_level, num_buffered_values_) +
+      sizeof(uint32_t);
   auto buffer_rle = std::make_shared<OwnedMutableBuffer>(rle_size, allocator_);
   level_encoder_.Init(Encoding::RLE, max_level, num_buffered_values_,
       buffer_rle->mutable_data() + sizeof(uint32_t),