diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/filesystem/s3fs.cc b/cpp/src/arrow/filesystem/s3fs.cc
index b6a928ecdd344..773ef84d24074 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/filesystem/s3fs.cc
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/filesystem/s3fs.cc
@@ -1983,27 +1983,33 @@ class ObjectOutputStream final : public io::OutputStream {
       const void* data, int64_t nbytes, std::shared_ptr<Buffer> owned_buffer = nullptr) {
     req.SetBucket(ToAwsString(path_.bucket));
     req.SetKey(ToAwsString(path_.key));
-    req.SetBody(std::make_shared<StringViewStream>(data, nbytes));
     req.SetContentLength(nbytes);
     RETURN_NOT_OK(SetSSECustomerKey(&req, sse_customer_key_));
 
     if (!background_writes_) {
-      req.SetBody(std::make_shared<StringViewStream>(data, nbytes));
+      // GH-45304: avoid setting a body stream if length is 0.
+      // This workaround can be removed once we require AWS SDK 1.11.489 or later.
+      if (nbytes != 0) {
+        req.SetBody(std::make_shared<StringViewStream>(data, nbytes));
+      }
 
       ARROW_ASSIGN_OR_RAISE(auto outcome, TriggerUploadRequest(req, holder_));
 
       RETURN_NOT_OK(sync_result_callback(req, upload_state_, part_number_, outcome));
     } else {
-      // If the data isn't owned, make an immutable copy for the lifetime of the closure
-      if (owned_buffer == nullptr) {
-        ARROW_ASSIGN_OR_RAISE(owned_buffer, AllocateBuffer(nbytes, io_context_.pool()));
-        memcpy(owned_buffer->mutable_data(), data, nbytes);
-      } else {
-        DCHECK_EQ(data, owned_buffer->data());
-        DCHECK_EQ(nbytes, owned_buffer->size());
+      // (GH-45304: avoid setting a body stream if length is 0, see above)
+      if (nbytes != 0) {
+        // If the data isn't owned, make an immutable copy for the lifetime of the closure
+        if (owned_buffer == nullptr) {
+          ARROW_ASSIGN_OR_RAISE(owned_buffer, AllocateBuffer(nbytes, io_context_.pool()));
+          memcpy(owned_buffer->mutable_data(), data, nbytes);
+        } else {
+          DCHECK_EQ(data, owned_buffer->data());
+          DCHECK_EQ(nbytes, owned_buffer->size());
+        }
+        req.SetBody(std::make_shared<StringViewStream>(owned_buffer->data(),
+                                                       owned_buffer->size()));
       }
-      req.SetBody(
-          std::make_shared<StringViewStream>(owned_buffer->data(), owned_buffer->size()));
 
       {
         std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock(upload_state_->mutex);
@@ -2345,7 +2351,6 @@ class S3FileSystem::Impl : public std::enable_shared_from_this<S3FileSystem::Imp
     req.SetBucket(ToAwsString(bucket));
     req.SetKey(ToAwsString(key));
     req.SetContentType(kAwsDirectoryContentType);
-    req.SetBody(std::make_shared<std::stringstream>(""));
     return OutcomeToStatus(
         std::forward_as_tuple("When creating key '", key, "' in bucket '", bucket, "': "),
         "PutObject", client_lock.Move()->PutObject(req));
diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/filesystem/s3fs_test.cc b/cpp/src/arrow/filesystem/s3fs_test.cc
index 3082ecb7843b8..370f3b26852aa 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/filesystem/s3fs_test.cc
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/filesystem/s3fs_test.cc
@@ -526,7 +526,6 @@ class TestS3FS : public S3TestMixin {
     Aws::S3::Model::PutObjectRequest req;
     req.SetBucket(ToAwsString("bucket"));
     req.SetKey(ToAwsString("emptydir/"));
-    req.SetBody(std::make_shared<std::stringstream>(""));
     RETURN_NOT_OK(OutcomeToStatus("PutObject", client_->PutObject(req)));
     // NOTE: no need to create intermediate "directories" somedir/ and
     // somedir/subdir/