diff --git a/arrow-flight/src/encode.rs b/arrow-flight/src/encode.rs
index c88ab71ce476..6adf4153c06a 100644
--- a/arrow-flight/src/encode.rs
+++ b/arrow-flight/src/encode.rs
@@ -373,7 +373,12 @@ impl FlightDataEncoder {
             DictionaryHandling::Hydrate => hydrate_dictionaries(&batch, schema)?,
         };
 
-        for batch in split_batch_for_grpc_response(batch, self.max_flight_data_size) {
+        let batches = split_batch_for_grpc_response(batch, self.max_flight_data_size);
+        let last = batches.len().saturating_sub(1); // handle empty batches  
+        for (i, batch) in batches.into_iter().enumerate() {
+            self.encoder
+                .ipc_write_context
+                .set_reserve_scratch(i != last);
             let (flight_dictionaries, flight_batch) = self.encoder.encode_batch(&batch)?;
             for dict in flight_dictionaries {
                 self.queue_message(dict);
@@ -666,7 +671,7 @@ fn prepare_schema_for_flight(
 fn split_batch_for_grpc_response(
     batch: RecordBatch,
     max_flight_data_size: usize,
-) -> impl Iterator<Item = RecordBatch> {
+) -> Vec<RecordBatch> {
     let size = batch
         .columns()
         .iter()
@@ -678,17 +683,15 @@ fn split_batch_for_grpc_response(
     let num_rows = batch.num_rows();
     let rows_per_batch = (num_rows / n_batches).max(1);
     let mut offset = 0;
+    let mut batches = Vec::with_capacity(n_batches);
 
-    std::iter::from_fn(move || {
-        if offset < num_rows {
-            let length = rows_per_batch.min(num_rows - offset);
-            let slice = batch.slice(offset, length);
-            offset += length;
-            Some(slice)
-        } else {
-            None
-        }
-    })
+    while offset < num_rows {
+        let length = rows_per_batch.min(num_rows - offset);
+        batches.push(batch.slice(offset, length));
+        offset += length;
+    }
+
+    batches
 }
 
 /// The data needed to encode a stream of flight data, holding on to
@@ -1858,8 +1861,7 @@ mod tests {
         let c = UInt32Array::from(vec![1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]);
         let batch = RecordBatch::try_from_iter(vec![("a", Arc::new(c) as ArrayRef)])
             .expect("cannot create record batch");
-        let split: Vec<_> =
-            split_batch_for_grpc_response(batch.clone(), max_flight_data_size).collect();
+        let split: Vec<_> = split_batch_for_grpc_response(batch.clone(), max_flight_data_size);
         assert_eq!(split.len(), 1);
         assert_eq!(batch, split[0]);
 
@@ -1869,8 +1871,7 @@ mod tests {
         let c = UInt8Array::from((0..n_rows).map(|i| (i % 256) as u8).collect::<Vec<_>>());
         let batch = RecordBatch::try_from_iter(vec![("a", Arc::new(c) as ArrayRef)])
             .expect("cannot create record batch");
-        let split: Vec<_> =
-            split_batch_for_grpc_response(batch.clone(), max_flight_data_size).collect();
+        let split: Vec<_> = split_batch_for_grpc_response(batch.clone(), max_flight_data_size);
         assert_eq!(split.len(), 3);
         assert_eq!(
             split.iter().map(|batch| batch.num_rows()).sum::<usize>(),
@@ -1915,7 +1916,7 @@ mod tests {
         let input_rows = batch.num_rows();
 
         let split: Vec<_> =
-            split_batch_for_grpc_response(batch.clone(), max_flight_data_size_bytes).collect();
+            split_batch_for_grpc_response(batch.clone(), max_flight_data_size_bytes);
         let sizes: Vec<_> = split.iter().map(RecordBatch::num_rows).collect();
         let output_rows: usize = sizes.iter().sum();
 
diff --git a/arrow-ipc/src/compression.rs b/arrow-ipc/src/compression.rs
index 79879332d4e0..9bf596f838bc 100644
--- a/arrow-ipc/src/compression.rs
+++ b/arrow-ipc/src/compression.rs
@@ -31,8 +31,8 @@ const DEFAULT_ZSTD_COMPRESSION_LEVEL: i32 = 3;
 /// compression. Also holds a [`FlatBufferBuilder`] that is reused across IPC writes.
 #[derive(Default)]
 pub struct IpcWriteContext {
-    #[expect(dead_code)]
     pub(crate) scratch: Vec<u8>,
+    pub(crate) reserve_scratch: bool,
     fbb: FlatBufferBuilder<'static>,
     #[cfg(feature = "zstd")]
     compressor: Option<zstd::bulk::Compressor<'static>>,
@@ -44,6 +44,13 @@ impl IpcWriteContext {
         &mut self.fbb
     }
 
+    /// Set whether the scratch buffer capacity should be reserved after each encode for reuse
+    /// on the next call. Set to `false` for the final batch in a sequence to avoid a
+    /// pointless allocation.
+    pub fn set_reserve_scratch(&mut self, reserve: bool) {
+        self.reserve_scratch = reserve;
+    }
+
     #[cfg(feature = "zstd")]
     fn zstd_compressor(&mut self, level: i32) -> &mut zstd::bulk::Compressor<'static> {
         self.compressor.get_or_insert_with(|| {
diff --git a/arrow-ipc/src/writer.rs b/arrow-ipc/src/writer.rs
index 6ae64843731f..ba667c648204 100644
--- a/arrow-ipc/src/writer.rs
+++ b/arrow-ipc/src/writer.rs
@@ -622,7 +622,7 @@ impl IpcDataGenerator {
     ) -> Result<(Vec<EncodedData>, EncodedData), ArrowError> {
         let encoded_dictionaries =
             self.encode_all_dicts(batch, dictionary_tracker, write_options, ipc_write_context)?;
-        let mut arrow_data = Vec::new();
+        let mut arrow_data = std::mem::take(&mut ipc_write_context.scratch);
         let (ipc_message, _, tail_pad) = self.record_batch_to_bytes(
             batch,
             write_options,
@@ -630,6 +630,10 @@ impl IpcDataGenerator {
             &mut IpcBodySink::Write(&mut arrow_data),
         )?;
         arrow_data.extend_from_slice(&PADDING[..tail_pad]);
+        let final_capcity = arrow_data.capacity();
+        if ipc_write_context.reserve_scratch {
+            ipc_write_context.scratch.reserve(final_capcity);
+        }
         Ok((
             encoded_dictionaries,
             EncodedData {