diff --git a/matlab/src/matlab/featherread.m b/matlab/src/matlab/featherread.m
index 833cbb4e657c6..3995ba05c71ac 100644
--- a/matlab/src/matlab/featherread.m
+++ b/matlab/src/matlab/featherread.m
@@ -60,8 +60,10 @@
 
     % Store original Feather table column names in the table.Properties.VariableDescriptions
     % property if they were modified to be valid MATLAB table variable names.
-    if ~all(t.Properties.VariableNames == recordBatch.ColumnNames)
-        t.Properties.VariableDescriptions = recordBatch.ColumnNames;
+    modifiedColumnNameIndices = t.Properties.VariableNames ~= recordBatch.ColumnNames;
+    if any(modifiedColumnNameIndices)
+        originalColumnNames = recordBatch.ColumnNames(modifiedColumnNameIndices);
+        t.Properties.VariableDescriptions(modifiedColumnNameIndices) = compose("Original variable name: '%s'", originalColumnNames);
     end
 
 end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/matlab/test/tfeathermex.m b/matlab/test/tfeathermex.m
index c0620e9054bf1..8b6b87aab1072 100644
--- a/matlab/test/tfeathermex.m
+++ b/matlab/test/tfeathermex.m
@@ -50,17 +50,17 @@ function InvalidMATLABTableVariableNames(testCase)
             filename = fullfile(pwd, 'temp.feather');
             
             % Create a table with an invalid MATLAB table variable name.
-            invalidVariable = arrow.util.createVariableStruct('double', 1, true, '@');
+            invalidVariable = arrow.util.createVariableStruct('double', 1, true, ':');
             validVariable = arrow.util.createVariableStruct('double', 1, true, 'Valid');
             variables = [invalidVariable, validVariable];
             metadata = arrow.util.createMetadataStruct(1, 2);
             arrow.cpp.call('featherwrite', filename, variables, metadata);
             t = featherread(filename);
             
-            testCase.verifyEqual(t.Properties.VariableNames{1}, 'x_');
+            testCase.verifyEqual(t.Properties.VariableNames{1}, ':_1');
             testCase.verifyEqual(t.Properties.VariableNames{2}, 'Valid');
             
-            testCase.verifyEqual(t.Properties.VariableDescriptions{1}, 'Original variable name: ''@''');
+            testCase.verifyEqual(t.Properties.VariableDescriptions{1}, 'Original variable name: '':''');
             testCase.verifyEqual(t.Properties.VariableDescriptions{2}, '');
         end 
     end