diff --git a/parquet/variant/variant.go b/parquet/variant/variant.go
index 0e8a904b5..25eacd430 100644
--- a/parquet/variant/variant.go
+++ b/parquet/variant/variant.go
@@ -258,7 +258,8 @@ func (m Metadata) KeyAt(id uint32) (string, error) {
 			id, len(m.keys))
 	}
 
-	return unsafe.String(&m.keys[id][0], len(m.keys[id])), nil
+	key := m.keys[id]
+	return unsafe.String(unsafe.SliceData(key), len(key)), nil
 }
 
 // IdFor returns the dictionary IDs for the given key.
diff --git a/parquet/variant/variant_test.go b/parquet/variant/variant_test.go
index b2f55339a..649a719c7 100644
--- a/parquet/variant/variant_test.go
+++ b/parquet/variant/variant_test.go
@@ -122,6 +122,22 @@ func TestBasicRead(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 }
 
+func TestMetadataEmptyKey(t *testing.T) {
+	var b variant.Builder
+	start := b.Offset()
+	fields := []variant.FieldEntry{b.NextField(start, "")}
+	require.NoError(t, b.AppendNull())
+	require.NoError(t, b.FinishObject(start, fields))
+	value, err := b.Build()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	metadata := value.Metadata()
+
+	key, err := metadata.KeyAt(0)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Empty(t, key)
+	assert.Equal(t, []uint32{0}, metadata.IdFor(""))
+}
+
 func loadVariant(t *testing.T, test string) variant.Value {
 	dir := getVariantDir()
 	if dir == "" {