diff --git a/src/io/flight/mod.rs b/src/io/flight/mod.rs
index a9a02b87792..5db4c70770e 100644
--- a/src/io/flight/mod.rs
+++ b/src/io/flight/mod.rs
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ use crate::{
     io::ipc::write::common::{encode_chunk, DictionaryTracker, EncodedData, WriteOptions},
 };
 
+use super::ipc::write::default_ipc_fields;
 use super::ipc::{IpcField, IpcSchema};
 
 /// Serializes [`Chunk`] to a vector of [`FlightData`] representing the serialized dictionaries
@@ -46,14 +47,17 @@ impl From<EncodedData> for FlightData {
 }
 
 /// Serializes a [`Schema`] to [`SchemaResult`].
-pub fn serialize_schema_to_result(schema: &Schema, ipc_fields: &[IpcField]) -> SchemaResult {
+pub fn serialize_schema_to_result(
+    schema: &Schema,
+    ipc_fields: Option<&[IpcField]>,
+) -> SchemaResult {
     SchemaResult {
         schema: schema_as_flatbuffer(schema, ipc_fields),
     }
 }
 
 /// Serializes a [`Schema`] to [`FlightData`].
-pub fn serialize_schema(schema: &Schema, ipc_fields: &[IpcField]) -> FlightData {
+pub fn serialize_schema(schema: &Schema, ipc_fields: Option<&[IpcField]>) -> FlightData {
     let data_header = schema_as_flatbuffer(schema, ipc_fields);
     FlightData {
         data_header,
@@ -62,17 +66,29 @@ pub fn serialize_schema(schema: &Schema, ipc_fields: &[IpcField]) -> FlightData
 }
 
 /// Convert a [`Schema`] to bytes in the format expected in [`arrow_format::flight::data::FlightInfo`].
-pub fn serialize_schema_to_info(schema: &Schema, ipc_fields: &[IpcField]) -> Result<Vec<u8>> {
-    let encoded_data = schema_as_encoded_data(schema, ipc_fields);
+pub fn serialize_schema_to_info(
+    schema: &Schema,
+    ipc_fields: Option<&[IpcField]>,
+) -> Result<Vec<u8>> {
+    let encoded_data = if let Some(ipc_fields) = ipc_fields {
+        schema_as_encoded_data(schema, ipc_fields)
+    } else {
+        let ipc_fields = default_ipc_fields(&schema.fields);
+        schema_as_encoded_data(schema, &ipc_fields)
+    };
 
     let mut schema = vec![];
     write::common_sync::write_message(&mut schema, encoded_data)?;
     Ok(schema)
 }
 
-fn schema_as_flatbuffer(schema: &Schema, ipc_fields: &[IpcField]) -> Vec<u8> {
-    let encoded_data = schema_as_encoded_data(schema, ipc_fields);
-    encoded_data.ipc_message
+fn schema_as_flatbuffer(schema: &Schema, ipc_fields: Option<&[IpcField]>) -> Vec<u8> {
+    if let Some(ipc_fields) = ipc_fields {
+        write::schema_to_bytes(schema, ipc_fields)
+    } else {
+        let ipc_fields = default_ipc_fields(&schema.fields);
+        write::schema_to_bytes(schema, &ipc_fields)
+    }
 }
 
 fn schema_as_encoded_data(schema: &Schema, ipc_fields: &[IpcField]) -> EncodedData {