diff --git a/.github/workflows/cmake-flatcc.yaml b/.github/workflows/cmake-flatcc.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..251135bae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/cmake-flatcc.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+# software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+# "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+# KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+# specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+
+name: cmake-flatcc
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches: [main]
+  pull_request:
+    paths:
+      - 'CMakeLists.txt'
+      - 'examples/cmake-flatcc/**'
+      - '.github/workflows/cmake-flatcc.yaml'
+      - 'src/nanoarrow/**'
+      - 'thirdparty/flatcc/**'
+
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+
+jobs:
+  external-flatcc:
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+      matrix:
+        os: [ubuntu-latest, macos-latest, windows-latest]
+        cmake: ['latest']
+        include:
+          - os: ubuntu-latest
+            cmake: '3.18.4.post1'
+          - os: ubuntu-latest
+            cmake: '3.23.3'
+    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v7
+      - uses: actions/setup-python@v7
+        with:
+          python-version: '3.11'
+      - name: Install CMake
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          if [ "${{ matrix.cmake }}" = "latest" ]; then
+            python -m pip install --upgrade cmake
+          else
+            python -m pip install "cmake==${{ matrix.cmake }}"
+          fi
+      - name: Test external flatcc discovery and linking
+        shell: bash
+        run: examples/cmake-flatcc/build.sh
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 919da6b46..eb3008c3e 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 # under the License.
 
 message(STATUS "Building using CMake version: ${CMAKE_VERSION}")
-cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.14)
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.18)
 
 set(NANOARROW_VERSION "0.10.0-SNAPSHOT")
 string(REGEX MATCH "^[0-9]+\\.[0-9]+\\.[0-9]+" NANOARROW_BASE_VERSION
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ option(NANOARROW_IPC "Build IPC extension" OFF)
 option(NANOARROW_FLATCC_ROOT_DIR "Root directory for flatcc include and lib directories"
        OFF)
 option(NANOARROW_FLATCC_INCLUDE_DIR "Include directory for flatcc includes" OFF)
-option(NANOARROW_FLATCC_LIB_DIR "Library directory that contains libflatccrt.a" OFF)
+option(NANOARROW_FLATCC_LIB_DIR "Library directory that contains the flatcc runtime" OFF)
 option(NANOARROW_IPC_WITH_ZSTD "Build nanoarrow with ZSTD compression support built in"
        OFF)
 option(NANOARROW_IPC_WITH_LZ4 "Build nanoarrow with LZ4 compression support built in" OFF)
@@ -95,8 +95,8 @@ if(NANOARROW_CODE_COVERAGE)
 endif()
 
 # Avoids a warning about timestamps on downloaded files (prefer new policy
-# if available))
-if(${CMAKE_VERSION} VERSION_GREATER_EQUAL "3.23")
+# if available).
+if(POLICY CMP0135)
   cmake_policy(SET CMP0135 NEW)
 endif()
 
@@ -241,6 +241,8 @@ if(NANOARROW_IPC)
     find_library(NANOARROW_FLATCC_LIBRARY_DEBUG
                  NAMES "${CMAKE_STATIC_LIBRARY_PREFIX}flatccrt_d${CMAKE_STATIC_LIBRARY_SUFFIX}"
                        flatccrt_d
+                       "${CMAKE_STATIC_LIBRARY_PREFIX}flatccrt${CMAKE_STATIC_LIBRARY_SUFFIX}"
+                       flatccrt
                  PATHS "${NANOARROW_FLATCC_ROOT_DIR}/debug/lib"
                  NO_DEFAULT_PATH)
     add_library(flatccrt UNKNOWN IMPORTED)
diff --git a/examples/cmake-flatcc/README.md b/examples/cmake-flatcc/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..592fba16b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/cmake-flatcc/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+<!---
+  Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+  or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+  distributed with this work for additional information
+  regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+  to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+  "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+  with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+  software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+  "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+  KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+  specific language governing permissions and limitations
+  under the License.
+-->
+
+# CMake External flatcc Examples
+
+This example builds nanoarrow IPC against external flatcc runtimes and runs a
+small IPC consumer. It checks static and shared runtimes, static preference when
+both are available, Debug and Release discovery, root and separate-directory
+options, and configuration failure when the runtime is missing. It exercises
+build-time linking; package exports are covered separately by `cmake-scenarios`.
+
+Run from this directory with Bash, CMake 3.18 or newer, and a C compiler:
+
+```bash
+./build.sh
+```
+
+The script can also be invoked from any working directory. It builds in a
+temporary directory and removes it on exit. On Windows, run it with Git Bash;
+the combined static/shared layout is skipped because static and import libraries
+use the same filename.
diff --git a/examples/cmake-flatcc/build.sh b/examples/cmake-flatcc/build.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..145cc7933
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/cmake-flatcc/build.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,128 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+#
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+# software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+# "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+# KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+# specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+
+set -exuo pipefail
+
+script_dir="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+source_dir="$(cd "${script_dir}/../.." && pwd)"
+root="$(mktemp -d "${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/nanoarrow-flatcc-XXXXXX")"
+trap 'rm -rf "${root}"' EXIT
+
+# CMake needs native paths in cache variables when running from Git Bash.
+cmake_path() {
+    if [[ "${OSTYPE}" == msys* || "${OSTYPE}" == cygwin* ]]; then
+        cygpath -m "$1"
+    else
+        printf '%s\n' "$1"
+    fi
+}
+
+source_dir="$(cmake_path "${source_dir}")"
+layouts=(static shared)
+# On Windows static and import libraries have the same filename.
+if [[ "${OSTYPE}" != msys* && "${OSTYPE}" != cygwin* ]]; then
+    layouts+=(both)
+fi
+
+for layout in "${layouts[@]}"; do
+    prefix="${root}/${layout}"
+    postfix="_d"
+    expect_static=ON
+    case "${layout}" in
+        static) types=(STATIC) ;;
+        shared)
+            types=(SHARED)
+            postfix=""
+            expect_static=OFF
+            ;;
+        both) types=(SHARED STATIC) ;;
+    esac
+
+    for kind in "${types[@]}"; do
+        for config in Release Debug; do
+            build="${root}/fixture-${layout}-${kind}-${config}"
+            cmake -S "$(cmake_path "${script_dir}/fixture")" -B "$(cmake_path "${build}")" \
+                "-DNANOARROW_SOURCE=${source_dir}" \
+                "-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=${config}" \
+                "-DRUNTIME_TYPE=${kind}" \
+                "-DRUNTIME_DEBUG_POSTFIX=${postfix}" \
+                "-DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$(cmake_path "${prefix}")"
+            cmake --build "$(cmake_path "${build}")" --config "${config}" --parallel 2
+            cmake --install "$(cmake_path "${build}")" --config "${config}"
+        done
+    done
+
+    for mode in root dirs; do
+        for config in Release Debug; do
+            build="${root}/consumer-${layout}-${mode}-${config}"
+            libdir="${prefix}/lib"
+            bindir="${prefix}/bin"
+            if [ "${config}" = Debug ]; then
+                libdir="${prefix}/debug/lib"
+                bindir="${prefix}/debug/bin"
+            fi
+
+            options=("-DNANOARROW_FLATCC_ROOT_DIR=$(cmake_path "${prefix}")")
+            expect_debug=ON
+            if [ "${mode}" = dirs ]; then
+                # Separate-directory discovery uses the unsuffixed name.
+                if [ "${config}" = Debug ] && [ -n "${postfix}" ]; then
+                    continue
+                fi
+                options=(
+                    "-DNANOARROW_FLATCC_INCLUDE_DIR=$(cmake_path "${prefix}/include")"
+                    "-DNANOARROW_FLATCC_LIB_DIR=$(cmake_path "${libdir}")"
+                )
+                expect_debug=OFF
+            fi
+
+            cmake -S "$(cmake_path "${script_dir}/consumer")" -B "$(cmake_path "${build}")" \
+                "-DNANOARROW_SOURCE=${source_dir}" \
+                "-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=${config}" \
+                "-DEXPECT_DEBUG=${expect_debug}" \
+                "-DEXPECT_STATIC=${expect_static}" \
+                "${options[@]}"
+            cmake --build "$(cmake_path "${build}")" --config "${config}" \
+                --target consumer nanoarrow_ipc_shared --parallel 2
+            # --test-dir was added after the supported CMake minimum.
+            (
+                cd "${build}"
+                PATH="${bindir}:${PATH}" ctest -C "${config}" --output-on-failure
+            )
+        done
+    done
+done
+
+mkdir "${root}/missing"
+if cmake -S "${source_dir}" -B "$(cmake_path "${root}/missing-build")" \
+    -DNANOARROW_IPC=ON \
+    "-DNANOARROW_FLATCC_INCLUDE_DIR=${source_dir}/thirdparty/flatcc/include" \
+    "-DNANOARROW_FLATCC_LIB_DIR=$(cmake_path "${root}/missing")" \
+    > "${root}/missing.log" 2>&1; then
+    cat "${root}/missing.log"
+    echo "Expected missing-runtime configuration failure" >&2
+    exit 1
+fi
+if ! grep -q NANOARROW_FLATCC_LIBRARY "${root}/missing.log"; then
+    cat "${root}/missing.log"
+    echo "Configuration failed for a reason other than a missing runtime" >&2
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+echo "External flatcc discovery checks passed."
diff --git a/examples/cmake-flatcc/consumer/CMakeLists.txt b/examples/cmake-flatcc/consumer/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..32d7406f9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/cmake-flatcc/consumer/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+# software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+# "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+# KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+# specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.18)
+project(flatcc_consumer C)
+set(NANOARROW_IPC
+    ON
+    CACHE BOOL "")
+add_subdirectory("${NANOARROW_SOURCE}" nanoarrow)
+# Verify discovery as well as linking: a Release fallback can otherwise hide a
+# missed unsuffixed Debug library.
+if(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE STREQUAL "Debug" AND EXPECT_DEBUG)
+  if(NOT NANOARROW_FLATCC_LIBRARY_DEBUG MATCHES "/debug/lib/")
+    message(FATAL_ERROR "Did not select the external Debug runtime")
+  endif()
+endif()
+if(EXPECT_STATIC AND NOT WIN32)
+  if(NOT NANOARROW_FLATCC_LIBRARY MATCHES "[.]a$")
+    message(FATAL_ERROR "Did not prefer the static runtime")
+  endif()
+endif()
+add_executable(consumer main.c)
+target_link_libraries(consumer PRIVATE nanoarrow::nanoarrow_ipc)
+enable_testing()
+add_test(NAME ipc-runtime COMMAND consumer)
diff --git a/examples/cmake-flatcc/consumer/main.c b/examples/cmake-flatcc/consumer/main.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a8915226e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/cmake-flatcc/consumer/main.c
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+#include <nanoarrow/nanoarrow_ipc.h>
+int main(void) {
+  struct ArrowIpcDecoder decoder;
+  if (ArrowIpcDecoderInit(&decoder)) return 1;
+  ArrowIpcDecoderReset(&decoder);
+  return 0;
+}
diff --git a/examples/cmake-flatcc/fixture/CMakeLists.txt b/examples/cmake-flatcc/fixture/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4cce145ec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/cmake-flatcc/fixture/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+# software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+# "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+# KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+# specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.18)
+project(flatcc_fixture C)
+add_library(flatccrt
+            ${RUNTIME_TYPE}
+            "${NANOARROW_SOURCE}/thirdparty/flatcc/src/runtime/builder.c"
+            "${NANOARROW_SOURCE}/thirdparty/flatcc/src/runtime/emitter.c"
+            "${NANOARROW_SOURCE}/thirdparty/flatcc/src/runtime/verifier.c"
+            "${NANOARROW_SOURCE}/thirdparty/flatcc/src/runtime/refmap.c")
+target_include_directories(flatccrt
+                           PRIVATE "${NANOARROW_SOURCE}/thirdparty/flatcc/include")
+set_target_properties(flatccrt
+                      PROPERTIES POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE ON
+                                 WINDOWS_EXPORT_ALL_SYMBOLS ON
+                                 DEBUG_POSTFIX "${RUNTIME_DEBUG_POSTFIX}")
+if(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE STREQUAL "Debug")
+  set(subdir "debug/")
+endif()
+install(TARGETS flatccrt
+        ARCHIVE DESTINATION "${subdir}lib"
+        LIBRARY DESTINATION "${subdir}lib"
+        RUNTIME DESTINATION "${subdir}bin")
+install(DIRECTORY "${NANOARROW_SOURCE}/thirdparty/flatcc/include/" DESTINATION include)