diff --git a/vector/src/main/java/org/apache/arrow/vector/VectorLoader.java b/vector/src/main/java/org/apache/arrow/vector/VectorLoader.java
index 9b9a89034..67f65162c 100644
--- a/vector/src/main/java/org/apache/arrow/vector/VectorLoader.java
+++ b/vector/src/main/java/org/apache/arrow/vector/VectorLoader.java
@@ -121,31 +121,33 @@ private void loadBuffers(
     int bufferLayoutCount =
         (int) (variadicBufferLayoutCount + TypeLayout.getTypeBufferCount(field.getType()));
     List<ArrowBuf> ownBuffers = new ArrayList<>(bufferLayoutCount);
-    for (int j = 0; j < bufferLayoutCount; j++) {
-      if (!buffers.hasNext()) {
-        throw new IllegalArgumentException(
-            "no more buffers for field " + field + ". Expected " + bufferLayoutCount);
+    try {
+      for (int j = 0; j < bufferLayoutCount; j++) {
+        if (!buffers.hasNext()) {
+          throw new IllegalArgumentException(
+              "no more buffers for field " + field + ". Expected " + bufferLayoutCount);
+        }
+        ArrowBuf nextBuf = buffers.next();
+        // for vectors without nulls, the buffer is empty, so there is no need to decompress it.
+        ArrowBuf bufferToAdd =
+            nextBuf.writerIndex() > 0 ? codec.decompress(vector.getAllocator(), nextBuf) : nextBuf;
+        ownBuffers.add(bufferToAdd);
+        if (decompressionNeeded) {
+          nextBuf.getReferenceManager().retain();
+        }
       }
-      ArrowBuf nextBuf = buffers.next();
-      // for vectors without nulls, the buffer is empty, so there is no need to decompress it.
-      ArrowBuf bufferToAdd =
-          nextBuf.writerIndex() > 0 ? codec.decompress(vector.getAllocator(), nextBuf) : nextBuf;
-      ownBuffers.add(bufferToAdd);
-      if (decompressionNeeded) {
-        // decompression performed
-        nextBuf.getReferenceManager().retain();
+      try {
+        vector.loadFieldBuffers(fieldNode, ownBuffers);
+      } catch (RuntimeException e) {
+        throw new IllegalArgumentException(
+            "Could not load buffers for field " + field + ". error message: " + e.getMessage(), e);
       }
-    }
-    try {
-      vector.loadFieldBuffers(fieldNode, ownBuffers);
+    } finally {
       if (decompressionNeeded) {
         for (ArrowBuf buf : ownBuffers) {
           buf.close();
         }
       }
-    } catch (RuntimeException e) {
-      throw new IllegalArgumentException(
-          "Could not load buffers for field " + field + ". error message: " + e.getMessage(), e);
     }
     List<Field> children = field.getChildren();
     if (children.size() > 0) {
diff --git a/vector/src/test/java/org/apache/arrow/vector/TestVectorUnloadLoad.java b/vector/src/test/java/org/apache/arrow/vector/TestVectorUnloadLoad.java
index 782535fcc..35b9a7116 100644
--- a/vector/src/test/java/org/apache/arrow/vector/TestVectorUnloadLoad.java
+++ b/vector/src/test/java/org/apache/arrow/vector/TestVectorUnloadLoad.java
@@ -37,6 +37,9 @@
 import org.apache.arrow.vector.complex.writer.BaseWriter.StructWriter;
 import org.apache.arrow.vector.complex.writer.BigIntWriter;
 import org.apache.arrow.vector.complex.writer.IntWriter;
+import org.apache.arrow.vector.compression.CompressionCodec;
+import org.apache.arrow.vector.compression.CompressionUtil;
+import org.apache.arrow.vector.ipc.message.ArrowBodyCompression;
 import org.apache.arrow.vector.ipc.message.ArrowFieldNode;
 import org.apache.arrow.vector.ipc.message.ArrowRecordBatch;
 import org.apache.arrow.vector.types.pojo.ArrowType;
@@ -348,4 +351,64 @@ public static VectorUnloader newVectorUnloader(FieldVector root) {
     VectorSchemaRoot vsr = new VectorSchemaRoot(schema.getFields(), fields, valueCount);
     return new VectorUnloader(vsr);
   }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testLoadReleasesBuffersOnDecompressionFailure() {
+    Schema schema = new Schema(asList(Field.nullable("int", new ArrowType.Int(32, true))));
+    CompressionCodec.Factory failingFactory =
+        new CompressionCodec.Factory() {
+          @Override
+          public CompressionCodec createCodec(CompressionUtil.CodecType codecType) {
+            return new CompressionCodec() {
+              @Override
+              public ArrowBuf compress(BufferAllocator allocator, ArrowBuf uncompressedBuffer) {
+                throw new UnsupportedOperationException();
+              }
+
+              @Override
+              public ArrowBuf decompress(BufferAllocator allocator, ArrowBuf compressedBuffer) {
+                throw new RuntimeException("simulated decompression failure");
+              }
+
+              @Override
+              public CompressionUtil.CodecType getCodecType() {
+                return codecType;
+              }
+            };
+          }
+
+          @Override
+          public CompressionCodec createCodec(
+              CompressionUtil.CodecType codecType, int compressionLevel) {
+            return createCodec(codecType);
+          }
+        };
+
+    try (BufferAllocator testAllocator =
+        allocator.newChildAllocator("test", 0, Integer.MAX_VALUE)) {
+      try (VectorSchemaRoot root = VectorSchemaRoot.create(schema, testAllocator)) {
+        VectorLoader loader = new VectorLoader(root, failingFactory);
+        ArrowBodyCompression compression =
+            new ArrowBodyCompression(
+                CompressionUtil.CodecType.LZ4_FRAME.getType(),
+                org.apache.arrow.flatbuf.BodyCompressionMethod.BUFFER);
+        List<ArrowFieldNode> nodes = asList(new ArrowFieldNode(1, 0));
+        ArrowBuf validityBuf = testAllocator.buffer(8);
+        validityBuf.writerIndex(8);
+        ArrowBuf dataBuf = testAllocator.buffer(4);
+        dataBuf.writerIndex(4);
+        try (ArrowRecordBatch batch =
+            new ArrowRecordBatch(1, nodes, asList(validityBuf, dataBuf), compression)) {
+          RuntimeException ex =
+              org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertThrows(
+                  RuntimeException.class, () -> loader.load(batch));
+          assertTrue(ex.getMessage().contains("simulated decompression failure"));
+        } finally {
+          validityBuf.close();
+          dataBuf.close();
+        }
+      }
+      assertEquals(0, testAllocator.getAllocatedMemory());
+    }
+  }
 }