diff --git a/cpp/include/cudf/io/parquet.hpp b/cpp/include/cudf/io/parquet.hpp
index e7f2245ea52..b7fc68ae99c 100644
--- a/cpp/include/cudf/io/parquet.hpp
+++ b/cpp/include/cudf/io/parquet.hpp
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ class parquet_reader_options {
   // Number of rows to skip from the start; Parquet stores the number of rows as int64_t
   int64_t _skip_rows = 0;
   // Number of rows to read; `nullopt` is all
-  std::optional<size_type> _num_rows;
+  std::optional<int64_t> _num_rows;
 
   // Read row groups that start at or after this byte offset into the source
   size_t _skip_bytes = 0;
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ class parquet_reader_options {
    * @return Number of rows to read; `nullopt` if the option hasn't been set (in which case the file
    * is read until the end)
    */
-  [[nodiscard]] std::optional<size_type> const& get_num_rows() const { return _num_rows; }
+  [[nodiscard]] std::optional<int64_t> const& get_num_rows() const { return _num_rows; }
 
   /**
    * @brief Returns bytes to skip before starting reading row groups
@@ -387,9 +387,12 @@ class parquet_reader_options {
   /**
    * @brief Sets number of rows to read.
    *
+   * @note Although this allows one to request more than `size_type::max()` rows, if any
+   * single read would produce a table larger than this row limit, an error is thrown.
+   *
    * @param val Number of rows to read after skip
    */
-  void set_num_rows(size_type val);
+  void set_num_rows(int64_t val);
 
   /**
    * @brief Sets bytes to skip before starting reading row groups.
@@ -547,10 +550,13 @@ class parquet_reader_options_builder {
   /**
    * @brief Sets number of rows to read.
    *
+   * @note Although this allows one to request more than `size_type::max()` rows, if any
+   * single read would produce a table larger than this row limit, an error is thrown.
+   *
    * @param val Number of rows to read after skip
    * @return this for chaining
    */
-  parquet_reader_options_builder& num_rows(size_type val)
+  parquet_reader_options_builder& num_rows(int64_t val)
   {
     options.set_num_rows(val);
     return *this;
diff --git a/cpp/src/io/functions.cpp b/cpp/src/io/functions.cpp
index a43ccf3f934..865ebd25e45 100644
--- a/cpp/src/io/functions.cpp
+++ b/cpp/src/io/functions.cpp
@@ -820,7 +820,7 @@ void parquet_reader_options::set_skip_rows(int64_t val)
   _skip_rows = val;
 }
 
-void parquet_reader_options::set_num_rows(size_type val)
+void parquet_reader_options::set_num_rows(int64_t val)
 {
   CUDF_EXPECTS(val >= 0, "num_rows cannot be negative");
   CUDF_EXPECTS(_row_groups.empty(), "num_rows can't be set along with a non-empty row_groups");
diff --git a/cpp/src/io/parquet/reader_impl.cpp b/cpp/src/io/parquet/reader_impl.cpp
index 1c0ebdfb0b4..cf2eff87847 100644
--- a/cpp/src/io/parquet/reader_impl.cpp
+++ b/cpp/src/io/parquet/reader_impl.cpp
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
 #include <bitset>
 #include <limits>
 #include <numeric>
+#include <stdexcept>
 #include <utility>
 
 namespace cudf::io::parquet::detail {
@@ -870,7 +871,10 @@ table_with_metadata reader_impl::read()
 {
   CUDF_EXPECTS(_output_chunk_read_limit == 0,
                "Reading the whole file must not have non-zero byte_limit.");
-
+  CUDF_EXPECTS(!_options.num_rows.has_value() ||
+                 _options.num_rows.value() <= std::numeric_limits<size_type>::max(),
+               "Requested number of rows to read exceeds column size limit",
+               std::overflow_error);
   prepare_data(read_mode::READ_ALL);
   return read_chunk_internal(read_mode::READ_ALL);
 }
diff --git a/cpp/tests/io/parquet_reader_test.cpp b/cpp/tests/io/parquet_reader_test.cpp
index 0d5e658e3be..42b031a4d49 100644
--- a/cpp/tests/io/parquet_reader_test.cpp
+++ b/cpp/tests/io/parquet_reader_test.cpp
@@ -26,15 +26,20 @@
 
 #include <cudf/column/column.hpp>
 #include <cudf/io/parquet.hpp>
+#include <cudf/io/parquet_metadata.hpp>
 #include <cudf/stream_compaction.hpp>
 #include <cudf/table/table.hpp>
 #include <cudf/table/table_view.hpp>
 #include <cudf/transform.hpp>
 
+#include <thrust/iterator/constant_iterator.h>
+
 #include <src/io/parquet/parquet_gpu.hpp>
 
 #include <array>
+#include <limits>
 #include <memory>
+#include <stdexcept>
 
 using ParquetDecompressionTest = DecompressionTest<ParquetReaderTest>;
 
@@ -3682,6 +3687,44 @@ TEST_F(ParquetReaderTest, ByteBoundsAndFilters)
   }
 }
 
+TEST_F(ParquetReaderTest, TableTooLargeOverflows)
+{
+  using T                             = bool;
+  constexpr int64_t per_file_num_rows = std::numeric_limits<cudf::size_type>::max() / 2 + 1000;
+  static_assert(per_file_num_rows <= std::numeric_limits<cudf::size_type>::max(),
+                "Number of rows per file should be less than size_type::max()");
+  static_assert(2 * per_file_num_rows > std::numeric_limits<cudf::size_type>::max(),
+                "Twice number of rows per file should be greather than size_type::max()");
+  auto value  = thrust::make_constant_iterator(true);
+  auto column = cudf::test::fixed_width_column_wrapper<T>(value, value + per_file_num_rows);
+
+  auto filepath = temp_env->get_temp_filepath("TableTooLargeOverflows.parquet");
+  {
+    auto sink = cudf::io::sink_info{filepath};
+    auto options =
+      cudf::io::parquet_writer_options::builder(sink, cudf::table_view{{column}}).build();
+    std::ignore = cudf::io::write_parquet(options);
+  }
+  std::vector<std::string> files{{filepath, filepath}};
+  auto source                 = cudf::io::source_info(files);
+  auto metadata               = cudf::io::read_parquet_metadata(source);
+  auto const num_rows_to_read = metadata.num_rows() - 1000;
+  EXPECT_EQ(metadata.num_rows(), per_file_num_rows * 2);
+  auto options = cudf::io::parquet_reader_options::builder(source)
+                   .num_rows(num_rows_to_read)
+                   .skip_rows(10)
+                   .build();
+
+  EXPECT_THROW(cudf::io::read_parquet(options), std::overflow_error);
+  auto reader = cudf::io::chunked_parquet_reader(0, 0, options);
+  int64_t num_rows_read{0};
+  while (reader.has_next()) {
+    auto chunk = reader.read_chunk();
+    num_rows_read += chunk.tbl->num_rows();
+  }
+  EXPECT_EQ(num_rows_read, num_rows_to_read);
+}
+
 TEST_F(ParquetReaderTest, LateBindSourceInfo)
 {
   srand(31337);
diff --git a/python/pylibcudf/pylibcudf/io/parquet.pxd b/python/pylibcudf/pylibcudf/io/parquet.pxd
index 4657ec795b8..8b2e2bcb65a 100644
--- a/python/pylibcudf/pylibcudf/io/parquet.pxd
+++ b/python/pylibcudf/pylibcudf/io/parquet.pxd
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ cdef class ParquetReaderOptions:
     cdef parquet_reader_options c_obj
     cdef SourceInfo source
     cpdef void set_row_groups(self, list row_groups)
-    cpdef void set_num_rows(self, size_type nrows)
+    cpdef void set_num_rows(self, int64_t nrows)
     cpdef void set_skip_rows(self, int64_t skip_rows)
     cpdef void set_columns(self, list col_names)
     cpdef void set_filter(self, Expression filter)
diff --git a/python/pylibcudf/pylibcudf/io/parquet.pyx b/python/pylibcudf/pylibcudf/io/parquet.pyx
index 146da465793..f9edbc4e693 100644
--- a/python/pylibcudf/pylibcudf/io/parquet.pyx
+++ b/python/pylibcudf/pylibcudf/io/parquet.pyx
@@ -111,15 +111,21 @@ cdef class ParquetReaderOptions:
 
         self.c_obj.set_row_groups(outer)
 
-    cpdef void set_num_rows(self, size_type nrows):
+    cpdef void set_num_rows(self, int64_t nrows):
         """
         Sets number of rows to read.
 
         Parameters
         ----------
-        nrows : size_type
+        nrows : int64_t
             Number of rows to read after skip
 
+        Notes
+        -----
+        Although this allows one to request more than `size_type::max()`
+        rows, if any single read would produce a table larger than this row
+        limit, an error is thrown.
+
         Returns
         -------
         None
diff --git a/python/pylibcudf/pylibcudf/libcudf/io/parquet.pxd b/python/pylibcudf/pylibcudf/libcudf/io/parquet.pxd
index 46597850604..94c822862bc 100644
--- a/python/pylibcudf/pylibcudf/libcudf/io/parquet.pxd
+++ b/python/pylibcudf/pylibcudf/libcudf/io/parquet.pxd
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ cdef extern from "cudf/io/parquet.hpp" namespace "cudf::io" nogil:
         void set_source(source_info src) except +libcudf_exception_handler
         void set_filter(expression &filter) except +libcudf_exception_handler
         void set_columns(vector[string] col_names) except +libcudf_exception_handler
-        void set_num_rows(size_type val) except +libcudf_exception_handler
+        void set_num_rows(int64_t val) except +libcudf_exception_handler
         void set_row_groups(
             vector[vector[size_type]] row_grp
         ) except +libcudf_exception_handler