diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/io/CMakeLists.txt b/cpp/src/arrow/io/CMakeLists.txt
index 623fcde413d8..f37844026dfc 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/io/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/io/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -45,8 +45,9 @@ add_arrow_test(memory_test PREFIX "arrow-io")
 
 add_arrow_benchmark(file_benchmark PREFIX "arrow-io")
 
-if(NOT (${ARROW_SIMD_LEVEL} STREQUAL "NONE") AND NOT (${ARROW_SIMD_LEVEL} STREQUAL "NEON"
-                                                     ))
+if(DEFINED ARROW_SIMD_LEVEL
+   AND NOT (ARROW_SIMD_LEVEL STREQUAL "NONE")
+   AND NOT (ARROW_SIMD_LEVEL STREQUAL "NEON"))
   # This benchmark either requires SSE4.2 or ARMV8 SIMD to be enabled
   add_arrow_benchmark(memory_benchmark PREFIX "arrow-io")
 endif()