diff --git a/cpp/cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake b/cpp/cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake
index e7ba195d99fd7..54d84163314ad 100644
--- a/cpp/cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake
+++ b/cpp/cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake
@@ -2639,7 +2639,7 @@ macro(build_bzip2)
                       BUILD_IN_SOURCE 1
                       BUILD_COMMAND ${MAKE} libbz2.a ${MAKE_BUILD_ARGS}
                                     ${BZIP2_EXTRA_ARGS}
-                      INSTALL_COMMAND ${MAKE} install PREFIX=${BZIP2_PREFIX}
+                      INSTALL_COMMAND ${MAKE} install -j1 PREFIX=${BZIP2_PREFIX}
                                       ${BZIP2_EXTRA_ARGS}
                       INSTALL_DIR ${BZIP2_PREFIX}
                       URL ${ARROW_BZIP2_SOURCE_URL}