diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/util/hashing.h b/cpp/src/arrow/util/hashing.h
index 53f92c8f23d2..cba39dffdb15 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/util/hashing.h
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/util/hashing.h
@@ -286,15 +286,16 @@ class HashTable {
   uint64_t size() const { return size_; }
 
   // Visit all non-empty entries in the table
-  // The visit_func should have signature void(const Entry*)
+  // The visit_func should have signature Status(const Entry*)
   template <typename VisitFunc>
-  void VisitEntries(VisitFunc&& visit_func) const {
+  Status VisitEntries(VisitFunc&& visit_func) const {
     for (uint64_t i = 0; i < capacity_; i++) {
       const auto& entry = entries_[i];
       if (entry) {
-        visit_func(&entry);
+        RETURN_NOT_OK(visit_func(&entry));
       }
     }
+    return Status::OK();
   }
 
  protected:
@@ -494,12 +495,13 @@ class ScalarMemoTable : public MemoTable {
     // So that both uint16_t and Float16 are allowed
     static_assert(sizeof(Value) == sizeof(Scalar));
     Scalar* out = reinterpret_cast<Scalar*>(out_data);
-    hash_table_.VisitEntries([=](const HashTableEntry* entry) {
+    ARROW_DCHECK_OK(hash_table_.VisitEntries([=](const HashTableEntry* entry) {
       int32_t index = entry->payload.memo_index - start;
       if (index >= 0) {
         out[index] = entry->payload.value;
       }
-    });
+      return Status::OK();
+    }));
     // Zero-initialize the null entry
     if (null_index_ != kKeyNotFound) {
       int32_t index = null_index_ - start;
@@ -534,12 +536,10 @@ class ScalarMemoTable : public MemoTable {
   // Merge entries from `other_table` into `this->hash_table_`.
   Status MergeTable(const ScalarMemoTable& other_table) {
     const HashTableType& other_hashtable = other_table.hash_table_;
-
-    other_hashtable.VisitEntries([this](const HashTableEntry* other_entry) {
+    RETURN_NOT_OK(other_hashtable.VisitEntries([this](const HashTableEntry* other_entry) {
       int32_t unused;
-      ARROW_DCHECK_OK(this->GetOrInsert(other_entry->payload.value, &unused));
-    });
-    // TODO: ARROW-17074 - implement proper error handling
+      return this->GetOrInsert(other_entry->payload.value, &unused);
+    }));
     return Status::OK();
   }
 };
@@ -899,11 +899,15 @@ class BinaryMemoTable : public MemoTable {
 
  public:
   Status MergeTable(const BinaryMemoTable& other_table) {
-    other_table.VisitValues(0, [this](std::string_view other_value) {
+    Status status = Status::OK();
+    other_table.VisitValues(0, [this, &status](std::string_view other_value) {
+      if (ARROW_PREDICT_FALSE(!status.ok())) {
+        return;
+      }
       int32_t unused;
-      ARROW_DCHECK_OK(this->GetOrInsert(other_value, &unused));
+      status = this->GetOrInsert(other_value, &unused);
     });
-    return Status::OK();
+    return status;
   }
 };
 
diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/util/hashing_test.cc b/cpp/src/arrow/util/hashing_test.cc
index f6ada0acd2d0..6e4c59a1ebd2 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/util/hashing_test.cc
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/util/hashing_test.cc
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 
 #include "arrow/array/builder_primitive.h"
 #include "arrow/array/concatenate.h"
+#include "arrow/memory_pool.h"
 #include "arrow/testing/gtest_util.h"
 #include "arrow/util/bit_util.h"
 #include "arrow/util/hashing.h"
@@ -376,6 +377,32 @@ TEST(ScalarMemoTable, StressInt64) {
   ASSERT_EQ(table.size(), map.size());
 }
 
+TEST(ScalarMemoTable, MergeTablePropagatesInsertError) {
+  int64_t bytes_allocated_limit = 0;
+  {
+    ProxyMemoryPool probe(default_memory_pool());
+    ScalarMemoTable<int64_t> target(&probe, 0);
+    for (int64_t value = 0; value < 15; ++value) {
+      AssertGetOrInsert(target, value, static_cast<int32_t>(value));
+    }
+    bytes_allocated_limit = probe.bytes_allocated();
+  }
+  ASSERT_GT(bytes_allocated_limit, 0);
+
+  ScalarMemoTable<int64_t> source(default_memory_pool(), 0);
+  AssertGetOrInsert(source, 15, 0);
+
+  ProxyMemoryPool proxy(default_memory_pool());
+  CappedMemoryPool pool(&proxy, bytes_allocated_limit);
+  ScalarMemoTable<int64_t> target(&pool, 0);
+  for (int64_t value = 0; value < 15; ++value) {
+    AssertGetOrInsert(target, value, static_cast<int32_t>(value));
+  }
+  ASSERT_EQ(proxy.bytes_allocated(), bytes_allocated_limit);
+
+  ASSERT_RAISES(OutOfMemory, target.MergeTable(source));
+}
+
 TEST(BinaryMemoTable, Basics) {
   std::string A = "", B = "a", C = "foo", D = "bar", E, F;
   E += '\0';
@@ -480,6 +507,35 @@ TEST(BinaryMemoTable, Stress) {
   ASSERT_EQ(table.size(), map.size());
 }
 
+TEST(BinaryMemoTable, MergeTablePropagatesInsertError) {
+  const std::vector<std::string> initial_values = {"a", "bb", "ccc", "dddd"};
+  const std::string extra_value(4096, 'x');
+
+  int64_t bytes_allocated_limit = 0;
+  {
+    ProxyMemoryPool probe(default_memory_pool());
+    BinaryMemoTable<BinaryBuilder> target(&probe, 0);
+    for (size_t i = 0; i < initial_values.size(); ++i) {
+      AssertGetOrInsert(target, initial_values[i], static_cast<int32_t>(i));
+    }
+    bytes_allocated_limit = probe.bytes_allocated();
+  }
+  ASSERT_GT(bytes_allocated_limit, 0);
+
+  BinaryMemoTable<BinaryBuilder> source(default_memory_pool(), 0);
+  AssertGetOrInsert(source, extra_value, 0);
+
+  ProxyMemoryPool proxy(default_memory_pool());
+  CappedMemoryPool pool(&proxy, bytes_allocated_limit);
+  BinaryMemoTable<BinaryBuilder> target(&pool, 0);
+  for (size_t i = 0; i < initial_values.size(); ++i) {
+    AssertGetOrInsert(target, initial_values[i], static_cast<int32_t>(i));
+  }
+  ASSERT_EQ(proxy.bytes_allocated(), bytes_allocated_limit);
+
+  ASSERT_RAISES(OutOfMemory, target.MergeTable(source));
+}
+
 TEST(BinaryMemoTable, Empty) {
   BinaryMemoTable<BinaryBuilder> table(default_memory_pool());
   ASSERT_EQ(table.size(), 0);