diff --git a/r/inst/build_arrow_static.sh b/r/inst/build_arrow_static.sh
index 34a607cfb6f7..79010f981264 100755
--- a/r/inst/build_arrow_static.sh
+++ b/r/inst/build_arrow_static.sh
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ read -r -a ARROW_EXTRA_CMAKE_FLAGS <<< "${EXTRA_CMAKE_FLAGS}"
 mkdir -p "${BUILD_DIR}"
 pushd "${BUILD_DIR}"
 "${CMAKE_COMMAND[@]}" -DARROW_BOOST_USE_SHARED=OFF \
-    -DARROW_SNAPPY_USE_SHARED=OFF \
+    -DARROW_SNAPPY_USE_SHARED="${ARROW_SNAPPY_USE_SHARED:-OFF}" \
     -DARROW_BUILD_TESTS=OFF \
     -DARROW_BUILD_SHARED=OFF \
     -DARROW_BUILD_STATIC=ON \
diff --git a/r/tools/nixlibs.R b/r/tools/nixlibs.R
index 3c184f6fe232..90a4ae5fe734 100644
--- a/r/tools/nixlibs.R
+++ b/r/tools/nixlibs.R
@@ -909,6 +909,7 @@ with_wasm_support <- function(env_var_list) {
     CMAKE_WRAPPER = "emcmake",
     ARROW_DEPENDENCY_SOURCE = "BUNDLED",
     ARROW_DEPENDENCY_USE_SHARED = "OFF",
+    ARROW_SNAPPY_USE_SHARED = "OFF",
     ARROW_ENABLE_THREADING = "OFF",
     ARROW_GCS = "OFF",
     ARROW_AZURE = "OFF",
diff --git a/r/vignettes/install.Rmd b/r/vignettes/install.Rmd
index 099ed6d3580c..77d39fd7af42 100644
--- a/r/vignettes/install.Rmd
+++ b/r/vignettes/install.Rmd
@@ -196,6 +196,11 @@ uses only system-installed dependencies (when set to `SYSTEM`) or checks
 system-installed dependencies first and only installs dependencies which aren't
 already present (when set to `AUTO`, the default).
 
+Snappy is an exception: by default it is always linked statically, even when
+`ARROW_DEPENDENCY_SOURCE` is `SYSTEM`. If your system only provides a shared
+`libsnappy`, set `ARROW_SNAPPY_USE_SHARED=ON` to link against it; the library
+must then be present at runtime.
+
 These dependencies vary by platform; however, if you wish to install these
 yourself prior to libarrow installation, we recommend that you take a look at
 the [docker file for whichever of our CI builds](https://github.com/apache/arrow/tree/main/ci/docker)