diff --git a/parquet/src/schema/types.rs b/parquet/src/schema/types.rs
index 2c63da74df47..0d504e16fc28 100644
--- a/parquet/src/schema/types.rs
+++ b/parquet/src/schema/types.rs
@@ -1401,7 +1401,7 @@ fn schema_from_array_helper<'a>(
         Some(n) => {
             let repetition = element.repetition_type;
 
-            let mut fields = Vec::with_capacity(n as usize);
+            let mut fields = Vec::with_capacity(usize::try_from(n)?);
             let mut next_index = index + 1;
             for _ in 0..n {
                 let child_result = schema_from_array_helper(elements, num_elements, next_index)?;
@@ -2517,4 +2517,22 @@ mod tests {
         let result_schema = parquet_schema_from_array(thrift_schema).unwrap();
         assert_eq!(result_schema, expected_schema);
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_parquet_schema_from_array_rejects_negative_num_children() {
+        let elements = vec![SchemaElement {
+            r#type: None,
+            type_length: None,
+            repetition_type: Some(Repetition::REQUIRED),
+            name: "schema",
+            num_children: Some(-1),
+            converted_type: None,
+            scale: None,
+            precision: None,
+            field_id: None,
+            logical_type: None,
+        }];
+        let result = parquet_schema_from_array(elements);
+        assert!(result.unwrap_err().to_string().contains("Integer overflow"));
+    }
 }