diff --git a/arrow-ord/src/partition.rs b/arrow-ord/src/partition.rs
index ec1647393239..fa00edab69fd 100644
--- a/arrow-ord/src/partition.rs
+++ b/arrow-ord/src/partition.rs
@@ -21,9 +21,10 @@ use std::ops::Range;
 
 use arrow_array::{Array, ArrayRef};
 use arrow_buffer::BooleanBuffer;
-use arrow_schema::ArrowError;
+use arrow_schema::{ArrowError, SortOptions};
 
 use crate::cmp::distinct;
+use crate::ord::make_comparator;
 
 /// A computed set of partitions, see [`partition`]
 #[derive(Debug, Clone)]
@@ -156,18 +157,24 @@ fn find_boundaries(v: &dyn Array) -> Result<BooleanBuffer, ArrowError> {
     let slice_len = v.len() - 1;
     let v1 = v.slice(0, slice_len);
     let v2 = v.slice(1, slice_len);
-    Ok(distinct(&v1, &v2)?.values().clone())
+
+    if !v.data_type().is_nested() {
+        return Ok(distinct(&v1, &v2)?.values().clone());
+    }
+    // Given that we're only comparing values, null ordering in the input or
+    // sort options do not matter.
+    let cmp = make_comparator(&v1, &v2, SortOptions::default())?;
+    Ok((0..slice_len).map(|i| !cmp(i, i).is_eq()).collect())
 }
 
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use std::sync::Arc;
 
+    use super::*;
     use arrow_array::*;
     use arrow_schema::DataType;
 
-    use super::*;
-
     #[test]
     fn test_partition_empty() {
         let err = partition(&[]).unwrap_err();
@@ -298,4 +305,31 @@ mod tests {
             vec![(0..1), (1..2), (2..4), (4..5), (5..7), (7..8), (8..9)],
         );
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_partition_nested() {
+        let input = vec![
+            Arc::new(
+                StructArray::try_from(vec![(
+                    "f1",
+                    Arc::new(Int64Array::from(vec![
+                        None,
+                        None,
+                        Some(1),
+                        Some(2),
+                        Some(2),
+                        Some(2),
+                        Some(3),
+                        Some(4),
+                    ])) as _,
+                )])
+                .unwrap(),
+            ) as _,
+            Arc::new(Int64Array::from(vec![1, 1, 1, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4])) as _,
+        ];
+        assert_eq!(
+            partition(&input).unwrap().ranges(),
+            vec![0..2, 2..3, 3..4, 4..6, 6..7, 7..8]
+        )
+    }
 }