diff --git a/ruby/red-arrow/lib/arrow/array-builder.rb b/ruby/red-arrow/lib/arrow/array-builder.rb
index 876fd71120b..2ccf50f3c1b 100644
--- a/ruby/red-arrow/lib/arrow/array-builder.rb
+++ b/ruby/red-arrow/lib/arrow/array-builder.rb
@@ -155,12 +155,14 @@ def detect_builder_info(value, builder_info)
             sub_builder_info = detect_builder_info(sub_value, sub_builder_info)
             break if sub_builder_info and sub_builder_info[:detected]
           end
-          if sub_builder_info and sub_builder_info[:detected]
-            sub_value_data_type = sub_builder_info[:builder].value_data_type
+          if sub_builder_info
+            sub_builder = sub_builder_info[:builder]
+            return builder_info unless sub_builder
+            sub_value_data_type = sub_builder.value_data_type
             field = Field.new("item", sub_value_data_type)
             {
               builder: ListArrayBuilder.new(ListDataType.new(field)),
-              detected: true,
+              detected: sub_builder_info[:detected],
             }
           else
             builder_info
diff --git a/ruby/red-arrow/test/test-array-builder.rb b/ruby/red-arrow/test/test-array-builder.rb
index fb48aba8a42..7a2d42e54b3 100644
--- a/ruby/red-arrow/test/test-array-builder.rb
+++ b/ruby/red-arrow/test/test-array-builder.rb
@@ -146,6 +146,46 @@ def assert_build(builder_class, raw_array)
                        ["Apache Arrow"],
                      ])
       end
+
+      test("list<uint>s") do
+        values = [
+          [0, 1, 2],
+          [3, 4],
+        ]
+        array = Arrow::Array.new(values)
+        data_type = Arrow::ListDataType.new(Arrow::UInt8DataType.new)
+        assert_equal({
+                       data_type: data_type,
+                       values: [
+                         [0, 1, 2],
+                         [3, 4],
+                       ],
+                     },
+                     {
+                       data_type: array.value_data_type,
+                       values: array.to_a,
+                     })
+      end
+
+      test("list<int>s") do
+        values = [
+          [0, -1, 2],
+          [3, 4],
+        ]
+        array = Arrow::Array.new(values)
+        data_type = Arrow::ListDataType.new(Arrow::Int8DataType.new)
+        assert_equal({
+                       data_type: data_type,
+                       values: [
+                         [0, -1, 2],
+                         [3, 4],
+                       ],
+                     },
+                     {
+                       data_type: array.value_data_type,
+                       values: array.to_a,
+                     })
+      end
     end
 
     sub_test_case("specific builder") do