diff --git a/.github/workflows/cpp.yml b/.github/workflows/cpp.yml
index 28cb16f354bad..7f0ed16fdd3f5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/cpp.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/cpp.yml
@@ -162,7 +162,9 @@ jobs:
       ARROW_WITH_BROTLI: ON
       ARROW_WITH_BZ2: ON
       ARROW_WITH_LZ4: ON
-      ARROW_WITH_OPENTELEMETRY: ON
+      # GH-36013 disabling opentelemetry here because we can't
+      # get the patched version from conda
+      # ARROW_WITH_OPENTELEMETRY: ON
       ARROW_WITH_SNAPPY: ON
       ARROW_WITH_ZLIB: ON
       ARROW_WITH_ZSTD: ON
diff --git a/ci/docker/fedora-35-cpp.dockerfile b/ci/docker/fedora-35-cpp.dockerfile
index 668e35b4435ba..7ed50173b5610 100644
--- a/ci/docker/fedora-35-cpp.dockerfile
+++ b/ci/docker/fedora-35-cpp.dockerfile
@@ -91,7 +91,6 @@ ENV absl_SOURCE=BUNDLED \
     ARROW_WITH_BROTLI=ON \
     ARROW_WITH_BZ2=ON \
     ARROW_WITH_LZ4=ON \
-    ARROW_WITH_OPENTELEMETRY=ON \
     ARROW_WITH_SNAPPY=ON \
     ARROW_WITH_ZLIB=ON \
     ARROW_WITH_ZSTD=ON \
@@ -104,3 +103,7 @@ ENV absl_SOURCE=BUNDLED \
     PARQUET_BUILD_EXECUTABLES=ON \
     PATH=/usr/lib/ccache/:$PATH \
     xsimd_SOURCE=BUNDLED
+
+# GH-36013 disabling opentelemetry here because we can't
+# get the patched version from conda
+#    ARROW_WITH_OPENTELEMETRY=ON \
diff --git a/ci/docker/ubuntu-20.04-cpp.dockerfile b/ci/docker/ubuntu-20.04-cpp.dockerfile
index 12dfe2d67a840..39d9d7489ef2a 100644
--- a/ci/docker/ubuntu-20.04-cpp.dockerfile
+++ b/ci/docker/ubuntu-20.04-cpp.dockerfile
@@ -160,7 +160,6 @@ ENV absl_SOURCE=BUNDLED \
     ARROW_WITH_BROTLI=ON \
     ARROW_WITH_BZ2=ON \
     ARROW_WITH_LZ4=ON \
-    ARROW_WITH_OPENTELEMETRY=ON \
     ARROW_WITH_SNAPPY=ON \
     ARROW_WITH_ZLIB=ON \
     ARROW_WITH_ZSTD=ON \
@@ -176,3 +175,7 @@ ENV absl_SOURCE=BUNDLED \
     PATH=/usr/lib/ccache/:$PATH \
     PYTHON=python3 \
     xsimd_SOURCE=BUNDLED
+
+# GH-36013 disabling opentelemetry here because we can't
+# get the patched version from conda
+#    ARROW_WITH_OPENTELEMETRY=ON \
diff --git a/ci/docker/ubuntu-22.04-cpp.dockerfile b/ci/docker/ubuntu-22.04-cpp.dockerfile
index e6fd44ff2d26e..b54cca4985279 100644
--- a/ci/docker/ubuntu-22.04-cpp.dockerfile
+++ b/ci/docker/ubuntu-22.04-cpp.dockerfile
@@ -184,7 +184,6 @@ ENV absl_SOURCE=BUNDLED \
     ARROW_WITH_BROTLI=ON \
     ARROW_WITH_BZ2=ON \
     ARROW_WITH_LZ4=ON \
-    ARROW_WITH_OPENTELEMETRY=ON \
     ARROW_WITH_SNAPPY=ON \
     ARROW_WITH_ZLIB=ON \
     ARROW_WITH_ZSTD=ON \
@@ -197,3 +196,7 @@ ENV absl_SOURCE=BUNDLED \
     PATH=/usr/lib/ccache/:$PATH \
     PYTHON=python3 \
     xsimd_SOURCE=BUNDLED
+
+# GH-36013 disabling opentelemetry here because we can't
+# get the patched version from conda
+#    ARROW_WITH_OPENTELEMETRY=ON \
diff --git a/cpp/cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake b/cpp/cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake
index 9e8ecb5ceb369..8db25db5b7924 100644
--- a/cpp/cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake
+++ b/cpp/cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake
@@ -109,6 +109,12 @@ if("${jemalloc_SOURCE}" STREQUAL "")
   set(jemalloc_SOURCE "BUNDLED")
 endif()
 
+# GH-36013 bundled opentelemetry-cpp build is broken, change the default
+# to CONDA until a patched bundled version is available.
+if("${opentelemetry-cpp_SOURCE}" STREQUAL "")
+  set(opentelemetry-cpp_SOURCE "CONDA")
+endif()
+
 message(STATUS "Using ${ARROW_DEPENDENCY_SOURCE} approach to find dependencies")
 
 if(ARROW_DEPENDENCY_SOURCE STREQUAL "CONDA")
@@ -4511,6 +4517,7 @@ endif()
 
 macro(build_opentelemetry)
   message(STATUS "Building OpenTelemetry from source")
+  message(WARNING "This can lead to build errors due to conflicting abseil (GH-36013).")
 
   set(OPENTELEMETRY_PREFIX "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/opentelemetry_ep-install")
   set(OPENTELEMETRY_INCLUDE_DIR "${OPENTELEMETRY_PREFIX}/include")