diff --git a/src/arrow_reader.rs b/src/arrow_reader.rs
index 71ba2f57..6c3d156f 100644
--- a/src/arrow_reader.rs
+++ b/src/arrow_reader.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 use std::collections::HashMap;
 use std::sync::Arc;
 
-use arrow::datatypes::{Schema, SchemaRef};
+use arrow::datatypes::SchemaRef;
 use arrow::error::ArrowError;
 use arrow::record_batch::{RecordBatch, RecordBatchReader};
 
@@ -52,6 +52,26 @@ impl<R> ArrowReaderBuilder<R> {
         self.schema_ref = Some(schema);
         self
     }
+
+    /// Returns the currently computed schema
+    ///
+    /// Unless [`with_schema`](Self::with_schema) was called, this is computed dynamically
+    /// based on the current projection and the underlying file format.
+    pub fn schema(&self) -> SchemaRef {
+        let projected_data_type = self
+            .file_metadata
+            .root_data_type()
+            .project(&self.projection);
+        let metadata = self
+            .file_metadata
+            .user_custom_metadata()
+            .iter()
+            .map(|(key, value)| (key.clone(), String::from_utf8_lossy(value).to_string()))
+            .collect::<HashMap<_, _>>();
+        self.schema_ref
+            .clone()
+            .unwrap_or_else(|| Arc::new(projected_data_type.create_arrow_schema(&metadata)))
+    }
 }
 
 impl<R: ChunkReader> ArrowReaderBuilder<R> {
@@ -61,6 +81,7 @@ impl<R: ChunkReader> ArrowReaderBuilder<R> {
     }
 
     pub fn build(self) -> ArrowReader<R> {
+        let schema_ref = self.schema();
         let projected_data_type = self
             .file_metadata
             .root_data_type()
@@ -71,9 +92,6 @@ impl<R: ChunkReader> ArrowReaderBuilder<R> {
             projected_data_type,
             stripe_index: 0,
         };
-        let schema_ref = self
-            .schema_ref
-            .unwrap_or_else(|| Arc::new(create_arrow_schema(&cursor)));
         ArrowReader {
             cursor,
             schema_ref,
@@ -111,16 +129,6 @@ impl<R: ChunkReader> ArrowReader<R> {
     }
 }
 
-pub(crate) fn create_arrow_schema<R>(cursor: &Cursor<R>) -> Schema {
-    let metadata = cursor
-        .file_metadata
-        .user_custom_metadata()
-        .iter()
-        .map(|(key, value)| (key.clone(), String::from_utf8_lossy(value).to_string()))
-        .collect::<HashMap<_, _>>();
-    cursor.projected_data_type.create_arrow_schema(&metadata)
-}
-
 impl<R: ChunkReader> RecordBatchReader for ArrowReader<R> {
     fn schema(&self) -> SchemaRef {
         self.schema_ref.clone()
diff --git a/src/async_arrow_reader.rs b/src/async_arrow_reader.rs
index 520b38b7..1e675e62 100644
--- a/src/async_arrow_reader.rs
+++ b/src/async_arrow_reader.rs
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ use futures::{ready, Stream};
 use futures_util::FutureExt;
 
 use crate::array_decoder::NaiveStripeDecoder;
-use crate::arrow_reader::{create_arrow_schema, Cursor};
+use crate::arrow_reader::Cursor;
 use crate::error::Result;
 use crate::reader::metadata::read_metadata_async;
 use crate::reader::AsyncChunkReader;
@@ -191,13 +191,13 @@ impl<R: AsyncChunkReader + 'static> ArrowReaderBuilder<R> {
             .file_metadata()
             .root_data_type()
             .project(&self.projection);
+        let schema_ref = self.schema();
         let cursor = Cursor {
             reader: self.reader,
             file_metadata: self.file_metadata,
             projected_data_type,
             stripe_index: 0,
         };
-        let schema_ref = Arc::new(create_arrow_schema(&cursor));
         ArrowStreamReader::new(cursor, self.batch_size, schema_ref)
     }
 }