diff --git a/cpp/cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake b/cpp/cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake
index 8a26b46d0bf..42fa5e34b3c 100644
--- a/cpp/cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake
+++ b/cpp/cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake
@@ -1974,7 +1974,9 @@ function(build_protobuf)
 
   # Make protobuf_fc depend on the install completion marker
   add_custom_target(protobuf_fc DEPENDS "${PROTOBUF_PREFIX}/.protobuf_installed")
-  list(APPEND ARROW_BUNDLED_STATIC_LIBS protobuf::libprotobuf)
+  set(ARROW_BUNDLED_STATIC_LIBS
+      ${ARROW_BUNDLED_STATIC_LIBS} protobuf::libprotobuf
+      PARENT_SCOPE)
 
   if(CMAKE_CROSSCOMPILING)
     # If we are cross compiling, we need to build protoc for the host