diff --git a/python/pyarrow/array.pxi b/python/pyarrow/array.pxi
index bca67cc0bf96..85b5a44ac977 100644
--- a/python/pyarrow/array.pxi
+++ b/python/pyarrow/array.pxi
@@ -208,7 +208,8 @@ def array(object obj, type=None, mask=None, size=None, from_pandas=None,
                 raise ValueError("Cannot pass a numpy masked array and "
                                  "specify a mask at the same time")
             else:
-                mask = values.mask
+                # don't use shrunken masks
+                mask = None if values.mask is np.ma.nomask else values.mask
                 values = values.data
 
         if hasattr(values, '__arrow_array__'):
diff --git a/python/pyarrow/tests/test_array.py b/python/pyarrow/tests/test_array.py
index 9f1808e77dd3..b13c6e3b7c85 100644
--- a/python/pyarrow/tests/test_array.py
+++ b/python/pyarrow/tests/test_array.py
@@ -1656,6 +1656,13 @@ def test_array_from_masked():
         pa.array(ma, mask=np.array([True, False, False, False]))
 
 
+def test_array_from_shrunken_masked():
+    ma = np.ma.array([0], dtype='int64')
+    result = pa.array(ma)
+    expected = pa.array([0], type='int64')
+    assert expected.equals(result)
+
+
 def test_array_from_invalid_dim_raises():
     msg = "only handle 1-dimensional arrays"
     arr2d = np.array([[1, 2, 3], [4, 5, 6]])