diff --git a/datafusion/datasource-parquet/src/opener.rs b/datafusion/datasource-parquet/src/opener.rs
index e7f196158ae92..fcd953125997a 100644
--- a/datafusion/datasource-parquet/src/opener.rs
+++ b/datafusion/datasource-parquet/src/opener.rs
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ impl FileOpener for ParquetOpener {
 
         let metadata_size_hint = file_meta.metadata_size_hint.or(self.metadata_size_hint);
 
-        let mut reader: Box<dyn AsyncFileReader> =
+        let mut async_file_reader: Box<dyn AsyncFileReader> =
             self.parquet_file_reader_factory.create_reader(
                 self.partition_index,
                 file_meta,
@@ -121,23 +121,40 @@ impl FileOpener for ParquetOpener {
         let enable_page_index = self.enable_page_index;
 
         Ok(Box::pin(async move {
-            // Don't load the page index yet - we will decide later if we need it
-            let options = ArrowReaderOptions::new().with_page_index(false);
-
+            // Don't load the page index yet. Since it is not stored inline in
+            // the footer, loading the page index if it is not needed will do
+            // unecessary I/O. We decide later if it is needed to evaluate the
+            // pruning predicates. Thus default to not requesting if from the
+            // underlying reader.
+            let mut options = ArrowReaderOptions::new().with_page_index(false);
             let mut metadata_timer = file_metrics.metadata_load_time.timer();
-            let mut metadata =
-                ArrowReaderMetadata::load_async(&mut reader, options.clone()).await?;
+
+            // Begin by loading the metadata from the underlying reader (note
+            // the returned metadata may actually include page indexes as some
+            // readers may return page indexes even when not requested -- for
+            // example when they are cached)
+            let mut reader_metadata =
+                ArrowReaderMetadata::load_async(&mut async_file_reader, options.clone())
+                    .await?;
+
             // Note about schemas: we are actually dealing with **3 different schemas** here:
             // - The table schema as defined by the TableProvider. This is what the user sees, what they get when they `SELECT * FROM table`, etc.
             // - The "virtual" file schema: this is the table schema minus any hive partition columns and projections. This is what the file schema is coerced to.
             // - The physical file schema: this is the schema as defined by the parquet file. This is what the parquet file actually contains.
-            let mut physical_file_schema = Arc::clone(metadata.schema());
+            let mut physical_file_schema = Arc::clone(reader_metadata.schema());
 
-            // read with view types
+            // The schema loaded from the file may not be the same as the
+            // desired schema (for example if we want to instruct the parquet
+            // reader to read strings using Utf8View instead). Update if necessary
             if let Some(merged) =
                 apply_file_schema_type_coercions(&table_schema, &physical_file_schema)
             {
                 physical_file_schema = Arc::new(merged);
+                options = options.with_schema(Arc::clone(&physical_file_schema));
+                reader_metadata = ArrowReaderMetadata::try_new(
+                    Arc::clone(reader_metadata.metadata()),
+                    options.clone(),
+                )?;
             }
 
             // Build predicates for this specific file
@@ -147,23 +164,25 @@ impl FileOpener for ParquetOpener {
                 &predicate_creation_errors,
             );
 
-            // Now check if we should load the page index
+            // The page index is not stored inline in the parquet footer so the
+            // code above may not have raed the page index structures yet. If we
+            // need them for reading and they aren't yet loaded, we need to load them now.
             if should_enable_page_index(enable_page_index, &page_pruning_predicate) {
-                metadata = load_page_index(
-                    metadata,
-                    &mut reader,
+                reader_metadata = load_page_index(
+                    reader_metadata,
+                    &mut async_file_reader,
                     // Since we're manually loading the page index the option here should not matter but we pass it in for consistency
-                    ArrowReaderOptions::new()
-                        .with_page_index(true)
-                        .with_schema(Arc::clone(&physical_file_schema)),
+                    options.with_page_index(true),
                 )
                 .await?;
             }
 
             metadata_timer.stop();
 
-            let mut builder =
-                ParquetRecordBatchStreamBuilder::new_with_metadata(reader, metadata);
+            let mut builder = ParquetRecordBatchStreamBuilder::new_with_metadata(
+                async_file_reader,
+                reader_metadata,
+            );
 
             let (schema_mapping, adapted_projections) =
                 schema_adapter.map_schema(&physical_file_schema)?;
@@ -372,12 +391,14 @@ fn build_pruning_predicates(
     (pruning_predicate, Some(page_pruning_predicate))
 }
 
+/// Returns a `ArrowReaderMetadata` with the page index loaded, loading
+/// it from the underlying `AsyncFileReader` if necessary.
 async fn load_page_index<T: AsyncFileReader>(
-    arrow_reader: ArrowReaderMetadata,
+    reader_metadata: ArrowReaderMetadata,
     input: &mut T,
     options: ArrowReaderOptions,
 ) -> Result<ArrowReaderMetadata> {
-    let parquet_metadata = arrow_reader.metadata();
+    let parquet_metadata = reader_metadata.metadata();
     let missing_column_index = parquet_metadata.column_index().is_none();
     let missing_offset_index = parquet_metadata.offset_index().is_none();
     // You may ask yourself: why are we even checking if the page index is already loaded here?
@@ -397,6 +418,6 @@ async fn load_page_index<T: AsyncFileReader>(
         Ok(new_arrow_reader)
     } else {
         // No need to load the page index again, just return the existing metadata
-        Ok(arrow_reader)
+        Ok(reader_metadata)
     }
 }