diff --git a/vector/src/main/java/org/apache/arrow/vector/ipc/message/MessageSerializer.java b/vector/src/main/java/org/apache/arrow/vector/ipc/message/MessageSerializer.java
index 36f6ea449b..1789dc4ffa 100644
--- a/vector/src/main/java/org/apache/arrow/vector/ipc/message/MessageSerializer.java
+++ b/vector/src/main/java/org/apache/arrow/vector/ipc/message/MessageSerializer.java
@@ -708,9 +708,16 @@ public static MessageMetadataResult readMessage(ReadChannel in) throws IOExcepti
         // ARROW-6313, if the first 4 bytes are continuation message, read the next 4 for the length
         if (in.readFully(buffer) == 4) {
           messageLength = MessageSerializer.bytesToInt(buffer.array());
+        } else {
+          // Stream ended right after the continuation token, treat as end-of-stream.
+          return null;
         }
       }
 
+      if (messageLength < 0) {
+        throw new IOException("Invalid message length: " + messageLength);
+      }
+
       // Length of 0 indicates end of stream
       if (messageLength != 0) {
 
diff --git a/vector/src/test/java/org/apache/arrow/vector/ipc/MessageSerializerTest.java b/vector/src/test/java/org/apache/arrow/vector/ipc/MessageSerializerTest.java
index b529ca645a..ae68f2a95f 100644
--- a/vector/src/test/java/org/apache/arrow/vector/ipc/MessageSerializerTest.java
+++ b/vector/src/test/java/org/apache/arrow/vector/ipc/MessageSerializerTest.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 import static org.apache.arrow.memory.util.LargeMemoryUtil.checkedCastToInt;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertArrayEquals;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertNull;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertThrows;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue;
 
@@ -121,6 +122,23 @@ public void testWriteMessageBufferAligned() throws IOException {
     assertEquals(0, result.getInt());
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void testReadMessageWithContinuationTokenThenEndOfStream() throws IOException {
+    // A continuation token (0xFFFFFFFF) with no length prefix following it.
+    byte[] bytes = new byte[] {(byte) 0xFF, (byte) 0xFF, (byte) 0xFF, (byte) 0xFF};
+    ReadChannel in = new ReadChannel(Channels.newChannel(new ByteArrayInputStream(bytes)));
+    assertNull(MessageSerializer.readMessage(in));
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testReadMessageRejectsNegativeLength() {
+    // Little-endian prefix encoding a negative message length (-5), which is not the
+    // continuation token.
+    byte[] bytes = new byte[] {(byte) 0xFB, (byte) 0xFF, (byte) 0xFF, (byte) 0xFF};
+    ReadChannel in = new ReadChannel(Channels.newChannel(new ByteArrayInputStream(bytes)));
+    assertThrows(IOException.class, () -> MessageSerializer.readMessage(in));
+  }
+
   @Test
   public void testSchemaMessageSerialization() throws IOException {
     Schema schema = testSchema();