diff --git a/arrow-array/src/builder/generic_list_builder.rs b/arrow-array/src/builder/generic_list_builder.rs
index 116e2553cfb7..b857224c5da6 100644
--- a/arrow-array/src/builder/generic_list_builder.rs
+++ b/arrow-array/src/builder/generic_list_builder.rs
@@ -17,10 +17,9 @@
 
 use crate::builder::{ArrayBuilder, BufferBuilder};
 use crate::{Array, ArrayRef, GenericListArray, OffsetSizeTrait};
-use arrow_buffer::Buffer;
 use arrow_buffer::NullBufferBuilder;
-use arrow_data::ArrayData;
-use arrow_schema::Field;
+use arrow_buffer::{Buffer, OffsetBuffer};
+use arrow_schema::{Field, FieldRef};
 use std::any::Any;
 use std::sync::Arc;
 
@@ -92,6 +91,7 @@ pub struct GenericListBuilder<OffsetSize: OffsetSizeTrait, T: ArrayBuilder> {
     offsets_builder: BufferBuilder<OffsetSize>,
     null_buffer_builder: NullBufferBuilder,
     values_builder: T,
+    field: Option<FieldRef>,
 }
 
 impl<O: OffsetSizeTrait, T: ArrayBuilder + Default> Default for GenericListBuilder<O, T> {
@@ -116,6 +116,20 @@ impl<OffsetSize: OffsetSizeTrait, T: ArrayBuilder> GenericListBuilder<OffsetSize
             offsets_builder,
             null_buffer_builder: NullBufferBuilder::new(capacity),
             values_builder,
+            field: None,
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Override the field passed to [`GenericListArray::new`]
+    ///
+    /// By default a nullable field is created with the name `item`
+    ///
+    /// Note: [`Self::finish`] and [`Self::finish_cloned`] will panic if the
+    /// field's data type does not match that of `T`
+    pub fn with_field(self, field: impl Into<FieldRef>) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            field: Some(field.into()),
+            ..self
         }
     }
 }
@@ -275,53 +289,37 @@ where
 
     /// Builds the [`GenericListArray`] and reset this builder.
     pub fn finish(&mut self) -> GenericListArray<OffsetSize> {
-        let len = self.len();
-        let values_arr = self.values_builder.finish();
-        let values_data = values_arr.to_data();
+        let values = self.values_builder.finish();
+        let nulls = self.null_buffer_builder.finish();
 
-        let offset_buffer = self.offsets_builder.finish();
-        let null_bit_buffer = self.null_buffer_builder.finish();
+        let offsets = self.offsets_builder.finish();
+        // Safety: Safe by construction
+        let offsets = unsafe { OffsetBuffer::new_unchecked(offsets.into()) };
         self.offsets_builder.append(OffsetSize::zero());
-        let field = Arc::new(Field::new(
-            "item",
-            values_data.data_type().clone(),
-            true, // TODO: find a consistent way of getting this
-        ));
-        let data_type = GenericListArray::<OffsetSize>::DATA_TYPE_CONSTRUCTOR(field);
-        let array_data_builder = ArrayData::builder(data_type)
-            .len(len)
-            .add_buffer(offset_buffer)
-            .add_child_data(values_data)
-            .nulls(null_bit_buffer);
 
-        let array_data = unsafe { array_data_builder.build_unchecked() };
+        let field = match &self.field {
+            Some(f) => f.clone(),
+            None => Arc::new(Field::new("item", values.data_type().clone(), true)),
+        };
 
-        GenericListArray::<OffsetSize>::from(array_data)
+        GenericListArray::new(field, offsets, values, nulls)
     }
 
     /// Builds the [`GenericListArray`] without resetting the builder.
     pub fn finish_cloned(&self) -> GenericListArray<OffsetSize> {
-        let len = self.len();
-        let values_arr = self.values_builder.finish_cloned();
-        let values_data = values_arr.to_data();
-
-        let offset_buffer = Buffer::from_slice_ref(self.offsets_builder.as_slice());
+        let values = self.values_builder.finish_cloned();
         let nulls = self.null_buffer_builder.finish_cloned();
-        let field = Arc::new(Field::new(
-            "item",
-            values_data.data_type().clone(),
-            true, // TODO: find a consistent way of getting this
-        ));
-        let data_type = GenericListArray::<OffsetSize>::DATA_TYPE_CONSTRUCTOR(field);
-        let array_data_builder = ArrayData::builder(data_type)
-            .len(len)
-            .add_buffer(offset_buffer)
-            .add_child_data(values_data)
-            .nulls(nulls);
 
-        let array_data = unsafe { array_data_builder.build_unchecked() };
+        let offsets = Buffer::from_slice_ref(self.offsets_builder.as_slice());
+        // Safety: safe by construction
+        let offsets = unsafe { OffsetBuffer::new_unchecked(offsets.into()) };
+
+        let field = match &self.field {
+            Some(f) => f.clone(),
+            None => Arc::new(Field::new("item", values.data_type().clone(), true)),
+        };
 
-        GenericListArray::<OffsetSize>::from(array_data)
+        GenericListArray::new(field, offsets, values, nulls)
     }
 
     /// Returns the current offsets buffer as a slice
@@ -765,4 +763,39 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(0, i1.null_count());
         assert_eq!(i1.values(), &[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]);
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_with_field() {
+        let field = Arc::new(Field::new("bar", DataType::Int32, false));
+        let mut builder = ListBuilder::new(Int32Builder::new()).with_field(field.clone());
+        builder.append_value([Some(1), Some(2), Some(3)]);
+        builder.append_null(); // This is fine as nullability refers to nullability of values
+        builder.append_value([Some(4)]);
+        let array = builder.finish();
+        assert_eq!(array.len(), 3);
+        assert_eq!(array.data_type(), &DataType::List(field.clone()));
+
+        builder.append_value([Some(4), Some(5)]);
+        let array = builder.finish();
+        assert_eq!(array.data_type(), &DataType::List(field));
+        assert_eq!(array.len(), 1);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    #[should_panic(expected = "Non-nullable field of ListArray \\\"item\\\" cannot contain nulls")]
+    fn test_checks_nullability() {
+        let field = Arc::new(Field::new("item", DataType::Int32, false));
+        let mut builder = ListBuilder::new(Int32Builder::new()).with_field(field.clone());
+        builder.append_value([Some(1), None]);
+        builder.finish();
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    #[should_panic(expected = "ListArray expected data type Int64 got Int32")]
+    fn test_checks_data_type() {
+        let field = Arc::new(Field::new("item", DataType::Int64, false));
+        let mut builder = ListBuilder::new(Int32Builder::new()).with_field(field.clone());
+        builder.append_value([Some(1)]);
+        builder.finish();
+    }
 }