diff --git a/python/pyarrow/ipc.py b/python/pyarrow/ipc.py
index 4e236678788a..4a8f75fce93f 100644
--- a/python/pyarrow/ipc.py
+++ b/python/pyarrow/ipc.py
@@ -96,8 +96,8 @@ class RecordBatchFileReader(lib._RecordBatchFileReader):
 
     Parameters
     ----------
-    source : bytes/buffer-like, pyarrow.NativeFile, or file-like Python object
-        Either an in-memory buffer, or a readable file object.
+    source : str, os.PathLike, bytes/buffer-like, pyarrow.NativeFile, or file-like Python object
+        Either a file path, an in-memory buffer, or a readable file object.
         If you want to use memory map use MemoryMappedFile as source.
     footer_offset : int, default None
         If the file is embedded in some larger file, this is the byte offset to
@@ -210,8 +210,8 @@ def open_file(source, footer_offset=None, *, options=None, memory_pool=None):
 
     Parameters
     ----------
-    source : bytes/buffer-like, pyarrow.NativeFile, or file-like Python object
-        Either an in-memory buffer, or a readable file object.
+    source : str, os.PathLike, bytes/buffer-like, pyarrow.NativeFile, or file-like Python object
+        Either a file path, an in-memory buffer, or a readable file object.
     footer_offset : int, default None
         If the file is embedded in some larger file, this is the byte offset to
         the very end of the file data.