diff --git a/ci/scripts/java_build.sh b/ci/scripts/java_build.sh
index ed4492aef560b..870046b3dea79 100755
--- a/ci/scripts/java_build.sh
+++ b/ci/scripts/java_build.sh
@@ -29,6 +29,10 @@ java_jni_dist_dir=${3}
 
 : ${BUILD_DOCS_JAVA:=OFF}
 
+# enable the memory debug logs by setting to true.
+# default set to false.
+export ARROW_MEMORY_DEBUG_ALLOCATOR=true
+
 if [[ "$(uname -s)" == "Linux" ]] && [[ "$(uname -m)" == "s390x" ]]; then
   # Since some files for s390_64 are not available at maven central,
   # download pre-build files from Artifactory and install them explicitly
@@ -45,7 +49,7 @@ if [[ "$(uname -s)" == "Linux" ]] && [[ "$(uname -m)" == "s390x" ]]; then
   # target=${artifact}-${ver}-${classifier}.${extension}
   target=${artifact}
   ${wget} ${artifactory_base_url}/${artifactory_dir}/${ver}/${target}
-  ${mvn_install} -DgroupId=${group} -DartifactId=${artifact} -Dversion=${ver} -Dclassifier=${classifier} -Dpackaging=${extension} -Dfile=$(pwd)/${target} -Darrow.memory.debug.allocator=true
+  ${mvn_install} -DgroupId=${group} -DartifactId=${artifact} -Dversion=${ver} -Dclassifier=${classifier} -Dpackaging=${extension} -Dfile=$(pwd)/${target}
   # protoc requires libprotoc.so.* libprotobuf.so.*
   libver="32"
   ${wget} ${artifactory_base_url}/${artifactory_dir}/${ver}/libprotoc.so.${libver}
@@ -63,7 +67,7 @@ if [[ "$(uname -s)" == "Linux" ]] && [[ "$(uname -m)" == "s390x" ]]; then
   # target=${artifact}-${ver}-${classifier}.${extension}
   target=${artifact}
   ${wget} ${artifactory_base_url}/${artifactory_dir}/${ver}/${target}
-  ${mvn_install} -DgroupId=${group} -DartifactId=${artifact} -Dversion=${ver} -Dclassifier=${classifier} -Dpackaging=${extension} -Dfile=$(pwd)/${target} -Darrow.memory.debug.allocator=true
+  ${mvn_install} -DgroupId=${group} -DartifactId=${artifact} -Dversion=${ver} -Dclassifier=${classifier} -Dpackaging=${extension} -Dfile=$(pwd)/${target}
 fi
 
 mvn="mvn -B -DskipTests -Drat.skip=true -Dorg.slf4j.simpleLogger.log.org.apache.maven.cli.transfer.Slf4jMavenTransferListener=warn"
@@ -96,7 +100,7 @@ if [ "${ARROW_JAVA_JNI}" = "ON" ]; then
 fi
 
 # Use `2 * ncores` threads
-${mvn} -T 2C clean install -Darrow.memory.debug.allocator=true
+${mvn} -T 2C clean install
 
 if [ "${BUILD_DOCS_JAVA}" == "ON" ]; then
   # HTTP pooling is turned of to avoid download issues https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/ARROW-11633
diff --git a/java/memory/memory-core/pom.xml b/java/memory/memory-core/pom.xml
index 9b24cee032023..4d99420dca651 100644
--- a/java/memory/memory-core/pom.xml
+++ b/java/memory/memory-core/pom.xml
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ under the License.
   <properties>
     <!-- List of add-opens arg line arguments for this module's tests -->
     <surefire.add-opens.argLine>--add-reads=org.apache.arrow.memory.core=ch.qos.logback.classic --add-opens=java.base/java.lang.reflect=org.apache.arrow.memory.core --add-opens=java.base/java.nio=org.apache.arrow.memory.core,ALL-UNNAMED</surefire.add-opens.argLine>
+    <arrow.memory.debug.allocator>${env.ARROW_MEMORY_DEBUG_ALLOCATOR}</arrow.memory.debug.allocator>
   </properties>
 
   <dependencies>
@@ -89,6 +90,9 @@ under the License.
             <!-- Test is only useful when NOT running with add-opens -->
             <exclude>**/TestOpens.java</exclude>
           </excludes>
+          <systemPropertyVariables>
+            <arrow.memory.debug.allocator>${arrow.memory.debug.allocator}</arrow.memory.debug.allocator>
+          </systemPropertyVariables>
         </configuration>
         <executions>
           <execution>