diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 0df68fc2cd3..783300ca679 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ csv = { version = "^1.1", optional = true }
 regex = { version = "^1.3", optional = true }
 lazy_static = { version = "^1.4", optional = true }
 streaming-iterator = { version = "0.1", optional = true }
+fallible-streaming-iterator = { version = "0.1", optional = true }
 
 serde = { version = "^1.0", features = ["rc"], optional = true }
 serde_derive = { version = "^1.0", optional = true }
@@ -119,7 +120,7 @@ io_parquet_compression = [
     "parquet2/lz4",
     "parquet2/brotli",
 ]
-io_avro = ["avro-rs", "streaming-iterator", "serde_json", "libflate"]
+io_avro = ["avro-rs", "fallible-streaming-iterator", "serde_json", "libflate"]
 # io_json: its dependencies + error handling
 # serde_derive: there is some derive around
 io_json_integration = ["io_json", "serde_derive", "hex"]
@@ -244,3 +245,7 @@ harness = false
 [[bench]]
 name = "iter_list"
 harness = false
+
+[[bench]]
+name = "avro_read"
+harness = false
diff --git a/src/io/avro/read/mod.rs b/src/io/avro/read/mod.rs
index 069c40393c2..a0669507e13 100644
--- a/src/io/avro/read/mod.rs
+++ b/src/io/avro/read/mod.rs
@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@ use std::io::Read;
 use std::sync::Arc;
 
 use avro_rs::{Codec, Schema as AvroSchema};
+use fallible_streaming_iterator::FallibleStreamingIterator;
 use libflate::deflate::Decoder;
-use streaming_iterator::StreamingIterator;
 
 mod deserialize;
 mod nested;
@@ -68,17 +68,19 @@ fn read_block<R: Read>(reader: &mut R, buf: &mut Vec<u8>, file_marker: [u8; 16])
     Ok(rows)
 }
 
-fn decompress_block(buf: &mut Vec<u8>, decompress: &mut Vec<u8>, codec: Codec) -> Result<bool> {
+/// Decompresses an avro block.
+/// Returns whether the buffers where swapped.
+fn decompress_block(block: &mut Vec<u8>, decompress: &mut Vec<u8>, codec: Codec) -> Result<bool> {
     match codec {
         Codec::Null => {
-            std::mem::swap(buf, decompress);
-            Ok(false)
+            std::mem::swap(block, decompress);
+            Ok(true)
         }
         Codec::Deflate => {
             decompress.clear();
-            let mut decoder = Decoder::new(&buf[..]);
+            let mut decoder = Decoder::new(&block[..]);
             decoder.read_to_end(decompress)?;
-            Ok(true)
+            Ok(false)
         }
     }
 }
@@ -106,13 +108,14 @@ impl<'a, R: Read> BlockStreamIterator<'a, R> {
     }
 }
 
-impl<'a, R: Read> StreamingIterator for BlockStreamIterator<'a, R> {
+impl<'a, R: Read> FallibleStreamingIterator for BlockStreamIterator<'a, R> {
+    type Error = ArrowError;
     type Item = (Vec<u8>, usize);
 
-    fn advance(&mut self) {
+    fn advance(&mut self) -> Result<()> {
         let (buf, rows) = &mut self.buf;
-        // todo: surface this error
-        *rows = read_block(self.reader, buf, self.file_marker).unwrap();
+        *rows = read_block(self.reader, buf, self.file_marker)?;
+        Ok(())
     }
 
     fn get(&self) -> Option<&Self::Item> {
@@ -144,17 +147,18 @@ impl<'a, R: Read> Decompressor<'a, R> {
     }
 }
 
-impl<'a, R: Read> StreamingIterator for Decompressor<'a, R> {
+impl<'a, R: Read> FallibleStreamingIterator for Decompressor<'a, R> {
+    type Error = ArrowError;
     type Item = (Vec<u8>, usize);
 
-    fn advance(&mut self) {
+    fn advance(&mut self) -> Result<()> {
         if self.was_swapped {
             std::mem::swap(self.blocks.buffer(), &mut self.buf.0);
         }
-        self.blocks.advance();
-        self.was_swapped =
-            decompress_block(self.blocks.buffer(), &mut self.buf.0, self.codec).unwrap();
+        self.blocks.advance()?;
+        self.was_swapped = decompress_block(self.blocks.buffer(), &mut self.buf.0, self.codec)?;
         self.buf.1 = self.blocks.get().map(|(_, rows)| *rows).unwrap_or_default();
+        Ok(())
     }
 
     fn get(&self) -> Option<&Self::Item> {
@@ -192,15 +196,12 @@ impl<'a, R: Read> Iterator for Reader<'a, R> {
     type Item = Result<RecordBatch>;
 
     fn next(&mut self) -> Option<Self::Item> {
-        if let Some((data, rows)) = self.iter.next() {
-            Some(deserialize::deserialize(
-                data,
-                *rows,
-                self.schema.clone(),
-                &self.avro_schemas,
-            ))
-        } else {
-            None
-        }
+        let schema = self.schema.clone();
+        let avro_schemas = &self.avro_schemas;
+
+        self.iter.next().transpose().map(|x| {
+            let (data, rows) = x?;
+            deserialize::deserialize(data, *rows, schema, avro_schemas)
+        })
     }
 }