diff --git a/matlab/src/cpp/arrow/matlab/io/ipc/proxy/record_batch_stream_reader.cc b/matlab/src/cpp/arrow/matlab/io/ipc/proxy/record_batch_stream_reader.cc
index cf167879f2f9f..33f04c3fc2edc 100644
--- a/matlab/src/cpp/arrow/matlab/io/ipc/proxy/record_batch_stream_reader.cc
+++ b/matlab/src/cpp/arrow/matlab/io/ipc/proxy/record_batch_stream_reader.cc
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ libmexclass::proxy::MakeResult RecordBatchStreamReader::make(
                          error::UNICODE_CONVERSION_ERROR_ID);
 
   MATLAB_ASSIGN_OR_ERROR(auto input_stream, arrow::io::ReadableFile::Open(filename_utf8),
-                         error::FAILED_TO_OPEN_FILE_FOR_WRITE);
+                         error::FAILED_TO_OPEN_FILE_FOR_READ);
 
   MATLAB_ASSIGN_OR_ERROR(auto reader,
                          arrow::ipc::RecordBatchStreamReader::Open(input_stream),