diff --git a/parquet/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/parquet/ParquetVariantReaders.java b/parquet/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/parquet/ParquetVariantReaders.java
index 5343683bb801..fc235b1f0de5 100644
--- a/parquet/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/parquet/ParquetVariantReaders.java
+++ b/parquet/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/parquet/ParquetVariantReaders.java
@@ -143,13 +143,43 @@ private static ByteBuffer readBinary(ColumnIterator<?> column) {
   }
 
   private static class VariantMetadataReader extends PrimitiveReader<VariantMetadata> {
+    // Caches the last parsed metadata for adjacent rows with identical bytes.
+    private byte[] lastMetadataBytes;
+    private VariantMetadata cachedMetadata;
+
     private VariantMetadataReader(ColumnDescriptor desc) {
       super(desc);
     }
 
     @Override
     public VariantMetadata read(VariantMetadata reuse) {
-      return Variants.metadata(readBinary(column));
+      ByteBuffer data = column.nextBinary().toByteBuffer();
+      int length = data.remaining();
+
+      if (cachedMetadata != null
+          && lastMetadataBytes != null
+          && lastMetadataBytes.length == length
+          && bufferEquals(data, lastMetadataBytes)) {
+        return cachedMetadata;
+      }
+
+      byte[] bytes = new byte[length];
+      data.get(bytes, 0, length);
+      VariantMetadata parsed =
+          Variants.metadata(ByteBuffer.wrap(bytes).order(ByteOrder.LITTLE_ENDIAN));
+      this.lastMetadataBytes = bytes;
+      this.cachedMetadata = parsed;
+      return parsed;
+    }
+
+    private static boolean bufferEquals(ByteBuffer buffer, byte[] expected) {
+      int pos = buffer.position();
+      for (int i = 0; i < expected.length; i++) {
+        if (buffer.get(pos + i) != expected[i]) {
+          return false;
+        }
+      }
+      return true;
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/parquet/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/parquet/TestVariantReaders.java b/parquet/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/parquet/TestVariantReaders.java
index eb917732aa3a..3185a9852644 100644
--- a/parquet/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/parquet/TestVariantReaders.java
+++ b/parquet/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/parquet/TestVariantReaders.java
@@ -1349,6 +1349,115 @@ public void testArrayWithElementValueTypedValueConflict() {
         .hasMessageContaining("Invalid variant, conflicting value and typed_value");
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void testMetadataCacheHits() throws IOException {
+    GroupType variantType = variant("var", 2);
+    MessageType parquetSchema = parquetSchema(variantType);
+
+    List<GenericRecord> records = Lists.newArrayList();
+    for (int i = 0; i < 50; i++) {
+      GenericRecord variant =
+          record(
+              variantType,
+              Map.of(
+                  "metadata", TEST_METADATA_BUFFER.duplicate(),
+                  "value", serialize(Variants.of(i))));
+      records.add(record(parquetSchema, Map.of("id", i, "var", variant)));
+    }
+
+    List<Record> results = writeAndRead(parquetSchema, records);
+    assertThat(results).hasSize(50);
+    VariantMetadata cached = ((Variant) results.get(0).getField("var")).metadata();
+    for (int i = 0; i < 50; i++) {
+      Record actual = results.get(i);
+      assertThat(actual.getField("id")).isEqualTo(i);
+      Variant actualVariant = (Variant) actual.getField("var");
+      assertThat(actualVariant.metadata())
+          .as("row %d must reuse the cached metadata instance", i)
+          .isSameAs(cached);
+      VariantTestUtil.assertEqual(Variants.of(i), actualVariant.value());
+    }
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testMetadataCacheInvalidatesByLength() throws IOException {
+    ByteBuffer metaA = VariantTestUtil.createMetadata(ImmutableList.of("x", "y"), true);
+    ByteBuffer metaB = VariantTestUtil.createMetadata(ImmutableList.of("p", "q", "r"), true);
+
+    GroupType variantType = variant("var", 2);
+    MessageType parquetSchema = parquetSchema(variantType);
+
+    List<GenericRecord> records = Lists.newArrayList();
+    for (int i = 0; i < 15; i++) {
+      ByteBuffer meta = (i / 5) % 2 == 0 ? metaA.duplicate() : metaB.duplicate();
+      GenericRecord variant =
+          record(variantType, Map.of("metadata", meta, "value", serialize(Variants.of(i))));
+      records.add(record(parquetSchema, Map.of("id", i, "var", variant)));
+    }
+
+    List<Record> results = writeAndRead(parquetSchema, records);
+    assertThat(results).hasSize(15);
+    VariantMetadata m0 = ((Variant) results.get(0).getField("var")).metadata();
+    VariantMetadata m5 = ((Variant) results.get(5).getField("var")).metadata();
+    VariantMetadata m10 = ((Variant) results.get(10).getField("var")).metadata();
+    assertThat(m5)
+        .as("metadata at row 5 must be a fresh instance after length change")
+        .isNotSameAs(m0);
+    assertThat(m10)
+        .as("metadata at row 10 must be a fresh instance after length change")
+        .isNotSameAs(m5);
+    for (int i = 0; i < 15; i++) {
+      Record actual = results.get(i);
+      assertThat(actual.getField("id")).isEqualTo(i);
+      Variant actualVariant = (Variant) actual.getField("var");
+      VariantMetadata cached = i < 5 ? m0 : i < 10 ? m5 : m10;
+      assertThat(actualVariant.metadata())
+          .as("row %d must reuse its group's cached metadata instance", i)
+          .isSameAs(cached);
+      VariantTestUtil.assertEqual(Variants.of(i), actualVariant.value());
+    }
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testMetadataCacheInvalidatesByBytes() throws IOException {
+    ByteBuffer metaA = VariantTestUtil.createMetadata(ImmutableList.of("x", "y"), true);
+    ByteBuffer metaC = VariantTestUtil.createMetadata(ImmutableList.of("a", "b"), true);
+    assertThat(metaA.remaining()).isEqualTo(metaC.remaining());
+
+    GroupType variantType = variant("var", 2);
+    MessageType parquetSchema = parquetSchema(variantType);
+
+    List<GenericRecord> records = Lists.newArrayList();
+    for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
+      ByteBuffer meta = (i / 2) % 2 == 0 ? metaA.duplicate() : metaC.duplicate();
+      GenericRecord variant =
+          record(variantType, Map.of("metadata", meta, "value", serialize(Variants.of(i))));
+      records.add(record(parquetSchema, Map.of("id", i, "var", variant)));
+    }
+
+    List<Record> results = writeAndRead(parquetSchema, records);
+    assertThat(results).hasSize(10);
+    for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
+      Record actual = results.get(i);
+      assertThat(actual.getField("id")).isEqualTo(i);
+      Variant actualVariant = (Variant) actual.getField("var");
+      VariantMetadata pairLeader = ((Variant) results.get((i / 2) * 2).getField("var")).metadata();
+      assertThat(actualVariant.metadata())
+          .as("row %d must reuse its pair leader's cached metadata instance", i)
+          .isSameAs(pairLeader);
+      VariantTestUtil.assertEqual(Variants.of(i), actualVariant.value());
+    }
+    VariantMetadata p0 = ((Variant) results.get(0).getField("var")).metadata();
+    VariantMetadata p2 = ((Variant) results.get(2).getField("var")).metadata();
+    VariantMetadata p4 = ((Variant) results.get(4).getField("var")).metadata();
+    assertThat(p2)
+        .as("pair leader at row 2 must be a fresh instance after byte change")
+        .isNotSameAs(p0);
+    assertThat(p4)
+        .as("pair leader at row 4 must be a fresh instance after byte change")
+        .isNotSameAs(p2);
+  }
+
   private static ByteBuffer serialize(VariantValue value) {
     ByteBuffer buffer = ByteBuffer.allocate(value.sizeInBytes()).order(ByteOrder.LITTLE_ENDIAN);
     value.writeTo(buffer, 0);