diff --git a/c/driver/postgresql/postgres_type.h b/c/driver/postgresql/postgres_type.h
index 02748cf91e..df59b113ed 100644
--- a/c/driver/postgresql/postgres_type.h
+++ b/c/driver/postgresql/postgres_type.h
@@ -312,6 +312,9 @@ class PostgresType {
   std::vector<PostgresType> children_;
 
   static constexpr const char* kPostgresTypeKey = "ADBC:postgresql:typname";
+  static constexpr const char* kExtensionName = "ARROW:extension:name";
+  static constexpr const char* kOpaqueExtensionName = "arrow.opaque";
+  static constexpr const char* kExtensionMetadata = "ARROW:extension:metadata";
 
   ArrowErrorCode AddPostgresTypeMetadata(ArrowSchema* schema) const {
     // the typname_ may not always be set: an instance of this class can be
@@ -322,8 +325,25 @@ class PostgresType {
     nanoarrow::UniqueBuffer buffer;
 
     ArrowMetadataBuilderInit(buffer.get(), nullptr);
+    // TODO(lidavidm): we have deprecated this in favor of arrow.opaque,
+    // remove once we feel enough time has passed
     NANOARROW_RETURN_NOT_OK(ArrowMetadataBuilderAppend(
         buffer.get(), ArrowCharView(kPostgresTypeKey), ArrowCharView(typname)));
+
+    // Add the Opaque extension type metadata
+    std::string metadata = R"({"type_name": ")";
+    metadata += typname;
+    metadata += R"(", "vendor_name": "PostgreSQL"})";
+    NANOARROW_RETURN_NOT_OK(
+        ArrowMetadataBuilderAppend(buffer.get(), ArrowCharView(kExtensionName),
+                                   ArrowCharView(kOpaqueExtensionName)));
+    NANOARROW_RETURN_NOT_OK(
+        ArrowMetadataBuilderAppend(buffer.get(), ArrowCharView(kExtensionMetadata),
+                                   ArrowStringView{
+                                       metadata.c_str(),
+                                       static_cast<int64_t>(metadata.size()),
+                                   }));
+
     NANOARROW_RETURN_NOT_OK(
         ArrowSchemaSetMetadata(schema, reinterpret_cast<char*>(buffer->data)));
 
diff --git a/c/driver/postgresql/postgres_type_test.cc b/c/driver/postgresql/postgres_type_test.cc
index 9d6152f27f..79bd8d5905 100644
--- a/c/driver/postgresql/postgres_type_test.cc
+++ b/c/driver/postgresql/postgres_type_test.cc
@@ -174,6 +174,14 @@ TEST(PostgresTypeTest, PostgresTypeSetSchema) {
                         &typnameMetadataValue);
   EXPECT_EQ(std::string(typnameMetadataValue.data, typnameMetadataValue.size_bytes),
             "numeric");
+  ArrowMetadataGetValue(schema->metadata, ArrowCharView("ARROW:extension:name"),
+                        &typnameMetadataValue);
+  EXPECT_EQ(std::string(typnameMetadataValue.data, typnameMetadataValue.size_bytes),
+            "arrow.opaque");
+  ArrowMetadataGetValue(schema->metadata, ArrowCharView("ARROW:extension:metadata"),
+                        &typnameMetadataValue);
+  EXPECT_EQ(std::string(typnameMetadataValue.data, typnameMetadataValue.size_bytes),
+            R"({"type_name": "numeric", "vendor_name": "PostgreSQL"})");
   schema.reset();
 
   ArrowSchemaInit(schema.get());
diff --git a/docs/source/driver/postgresql.rst b/docs/source/driver/postgresql.rst
index 2f67183c8b..5c9d69bd93 100644
--- a/docs/source/driver/postgresql.rst
+++ b/docs/source/driver/postgresql.rst
@@ -329,6 +329,23 @@ being read or written.
                 overflow/underflow; an error will be returned if this would be
                 the case.
 
+Unknown Types
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Types without direct Arrow equivalents can still be returned by the driver.
+In this case, the Arrow type will be binary, and the contents will be the raw
+bytes as provided by the PostgreSQL wire protocol.
+
+For Arrow implementations that support the :external:doc:`Opaque canonical
+extension type <format/CanonicalExtensions>`, the extension type metadata is
+also always present.  This helps differentiate when the driver intentionally
+returned a binary column from when it returned a binary column as a fallback.
+
+.. warning:: Currently, the driver also attaches a metadata key named
+             ``ADBC:posgresql:typname`` to the schema field of the unknown
+             column, but this has been deprecated in favor of the Opaque type
+             and you should not rely on this key continuing to exist.
+
 Software Versions
 =================