diff --git a/r/configure b/r/configure
index a0f75f8ddb5cd..0586cbe071007 100755
--- a/r/configure
+++ b/r/configure
@@ -100,6 +100,21 @@ if [ ! "`${R_HOME}/bin/R CMD config CXX17`" ]; then
   exit 1
 fi
 
+# GH-36969: The version of Abseil used in the bundled build won't build on
+# gcc-13. As a workaround for the 13.0.0 release, explicitly set
+# ARROW_WITH_GOOGLE_CLOUD_CPP to OFF (if not already set)
+if [ -z "$ARROW_GCS" ]; then
+  CXX17=`${R_HOME}/bin/R CMD config CXX17`
+  CXX17_VERSION=`$CXX17 --version`
+  if echo "$CXX17_VERSION" | grep -e "g++" > /dev/null ; then
+    if echo "$CXX17_VERSION" | grep -e "13.[0-9]\+.[0-9]\+" > /dev/null ; then
+      echo "*** Disabling Arrow build with GCS on gcc-13."
+      echo "*** Set ARROW_GCS=ON to explicitly enable."
+      export ARROW_GCS="OFF"
+    fi
+  fi
+fi
+
 # Test if pkg-config is available to use
 if ${PKG_CONFIG} --version >/dev/null 2>&1; then
   PKG_CONFIG_AVAILABLE="true"