diff --git a/python/pyarrow/_compute.pyx b/python/pyarrow/_compute.pyx
index 1c98bbfdea2c..c17870f3225a 100644
--- a/python/pyarrow/_compute.pyx
+++ b/python/pyarrow/_compute.pyx
@@ -3482,6 +3482,8 @@ def _register_user_defined_function(register_func, func, function_name, function
 
     if func_registry is None:
         c_func_registry = NULL
+    elif not isinstance(func_registry, FunctionRegistry):
+        raise TypeError("func_registry must be a FunctionRegistry")
     else:
         c_func_registry = (<FunctionRegistry>func_registry).registry
 
@@ -3516,6 +3518,8 @@ def call_tabular_function(function_name, args=None, func_registry=None):
     c_func_name = tobytes(function_name)
     if func_registry is None:
         c_func_registry = NULL
+    elif not isinstance(func_registry, FunctionRegistry):
+        raise TypeError("func_registry must be a FunctionRegistry")
     else:
         c_func_registry = (<FunctionRegistry>func_registry).registry
     if args is None:
diff --git a/python/pyarrow/tests/test_compute.py b/python/pyarrow/tests/test_compute.py
index 8b2ad2b333fc..00e73cee9ddb 100644
--- a/python/pyarrow/tests/test_compute.py
+++ b/python/pyarrow/tests/test_compute.py
@@ -246,6 +246,31 @@ def test_list_functions():
     assert "add" in pc.list_functions()
 
 
+def test_call_tabular_function_rejects_invalid_registry():
+    with pytest.raises(TypeError,
+                       match="func_registry must be a FunctionRegistry"):
+        pc.call_tabular_function("", None, 1)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("register_function", [
+    pc.register_scalar_function,
+    pc.register_vector_function,
+    pc.register_aggregate_function,
+    pc.register_tabular_function,
+])
+def test_register_function_rejects_invalid_registry(register_function):
+    with pytest.raises(TypeError,
+                       match="func_registry must be a FunctionRegistry"):
+        register_function(
+            func=lambda context: None,
+            function_name="invalid_registry",
+            function_doc={"summary": "", "description": ""},
+            in_types={},
+            out_type=pa.struct([]),
+            func_registry=1,
+        )
+
+
 def _check_get_function(name, expected_func_cls, expected_ker_cls,
                         min_num_kernels=1):
     func = pc.get_function(name)