diff --git a/src/visitor.ts b/src/visitor.ts
index fe0cd8c2..d9c37660 100644
--- a/src/visitor.ts
+++ b/src/visitor.ts
@@ -65,10 +65,10 @@ function getVisitFn<T extends DataType>(visitor: Visitor, node: any, throwIfNotF
     if (typeof node === 'string' && (node in Type)) {
         return getVisitFnByTypeId(visitor, Type[node as keyof typeof Type], throwIfNotFound);
     }
-    if (node && (node instanceof DataType)) {
+    if (node && DataType.isDataType(node)) {
         return getVisitFnByTypeId(visitor, inferDType(node as T), throwIfNotFound);
     }
-    if (node?.type && (node.type instanceof DataType)) {
+    if (node?.type && DataType.isDataType(node.type)) {
         return getVisitFnByTypeId(visitor, inferDType(node.type as T), throwIfNotFound);
     }
     return getVisitFnByTypeId(visitor, Type.NONE, throwIfNotFound);
diff --git a/test/unit/multiple-copies-tests.ts b/test/unit/multiple-copies-tests.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..cda46d33
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/multiple-copies-tests.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+// Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+// or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+// distributed with this work for additional information
+// regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+// to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+// "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+// with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+// software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+// "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+// KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+// specific language governing permissions and limitations
+// under the License.
+
+import { jest } from '@jest/globals';
+import * as Arrow from 'apache-arrow';
+
+/**
+ * arrow-js has had bugs where it behaves strangely or incorrectly when
+ * more than one copy of the library is loaded, such as a duplicate install
+ * or the CommonJS and ES module builds loaded together. This suite
+ * validates that objects created by one copy can be used by another.
+ *
+ * The second copy is the same entry point evaluated again in a fresh
+ * module registry, which gives it its own set of classes.
+ *
+ * @see https://github.com/apache/arrow-js/issues/61
+ * @see https://github.com/apache/arrow-js/issues/496
+ */
+describe('Multiple copies of arrow-js', () => {
+
+    let Other: typeof Arrow;
+
+    beforeAll(async () => {
+        jest.resetModules();
+        Other = await import('apache-arrow');
+    });
+
+    test('loads a second copy of the library', () => {
+        expect(Other.Table).not.toBe(Arrow.Table);
+        expect(Other.DataType).not.toBe(Arrow.DataType);
+    });
+
+    const tables: Record<string, () => Arrow.Table> = {
+        Int32: () => new Arrow.Table({ a: Arrow.vectorFromArray([1, null, 3], new Arrow.Int32) }),
+        Float64: () => new Arrow.Table({ a: Arrow.vectorFromArray([1.5, null, 3.5], new Arrow.Float64) }),
+        Bool: () => new Arrow.Table({ a: Arrow.vectorFromArray([true, null, false], new Arrow.Bool) }),
+        Utf8: () => new Arrow.Table({ a: Arrow.vectorFromArray(['a', null, 'c'], new Arrow.Utf8) }),
+        Timestamp: () => new Arrow.Table({ a: Arrow.vectorFromArray([new Date(0), null], new Arrow.TimestampMillisecond) }),
+        Dictionary: () => new Arrow.Table({
+            a: Arrow.vectorFromArray(['a', null, 'a'], new Arrow.Dictionary(new Arrow.Utf8, new Arrow.Int16))
+        }),
+        List: () => new Arrow.Table({
+            a: Arrow.vectorFromArray([[1, 2], null, [3]], new Arrow.List(new Arrow.Field('item', new Arrow.Int32)))
+        }),
+        Struct: () => new Arrow.Table({
+            a: Arrow.vectorFromArray([{ x: 1, y: 'a' }, null], new Arrow.Struct([
+                new Arrow.Field('x', new Arrow.Int32),
+                new Arrow.Field('y', new Arrow.Utf8),
+            ]))
+        }),
+        'multiple columns': () => Arrow.tableFromArrays({ id: Int32Array.from([1, 2]), text: ['a', 'b'] }),
+    };
+
+    describe.each(['stream', 'file'] as const)('tableToIPC(%s)', (format) => {
+        test.each(Object.keys(tables))('writes a %s table from another copy of the library', (name) => {
+            const table = tables[name]();
+            const expected = Arrow.tableToIPC(table, format);
+            const actual = Other.tableToIPC(table as any, format);
+            expect(actual).toEqual(expected);
+            expect(Arrow.tableFromIPC(actual).toString()).toEqual(table.toString());
+        });
+    });
+
+    test('visitors dispatch on a DataType from another copy of the library', () => {
+        const vector = Other.vectorFromArray([1, 2, 3], new Arrow.Int32 as any);
+        expect(vector.type.typeId).toBe(Arrow.Type.Int);
+        expect([...vector]).toEqual([1, 2, 3]);
+    });
+});