diff --git a/datafusion/proto/src/logical_plan/from_proto.rs b/datafusion/proto/src/logical_plan/from_proto.rs
index b3873c01dd06b..c87882ca72fcd 100644
--- a/datafusion/proto/src/logical_plan/from_proto.rs
+++ b/datafusion/proto/src/logical_plan/from_proto.rs
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ use crate::protobuf::{
     OptimizedPhysicalPlanType, PlaceholderNode, RollupNode,
 };
 use arrow::{
-    buffer::{Buffer, MutableBuffer},
+    buffer::Buffer,
     datatypes::{
         i256, DataType, Field, IntervalMonthDayNanoType, IntervalUnit, Schema, TimeUnit,
         UnionFields, UnionMode,
@@ -645,6 +645,7 @@ impl TryFrom<&protobuf::ScalarValue> for ScalarValue {
             Value::Float32Value(v) => Self::Float32(Some(*v)),
             Value::Float64Value(v) => Self::Float64(Some(*v)),
             Value::Date32Value(v) => Self::Date32(Some(*v)),
+            // ScalarValue::List is serialized using arrow IPC format
             Value::ListValue(scalar_list) => {
                 let protobuf::ScalarListValue {
                     ipc_message,
@@ -655,29 +656,36 @@ impl TryFrom<&protobuf::ScalarValue> for ScalarValue {
                 let schema: Schema = if let Some(schema_ref) = schema {
                     schema_ref.try_into()?
                 } else {
-                    return Err(Error::General("Unexpected schema".to_string()));
+                    return Err(Error::General(
+                        "Invalid schema while deserializing ScalarValue::List"
+                            .to_string(),
+                    ));
                 };
 
-                let message = root_as_message(ipc_message.as_slice()).unwrap();
+                let message = root_as_message(ipc_message.as_slice()).map_err(|e| {
+                    Error::General(format!(
+                        "Error IPC message while deserializing ScalarValue::List: {e}"
+                    ))
+                })?;
+                let buffer = Buffer::from(arrow_data);
 
-                // TODO: Add comment to why adding 0 before arrow_data.
-                // This code is from https://github.com/apache/arrow-rs/blob/4320a753beaee0a1a6870c59ef46b59e88c9c323/arrow-ipc/src/reader.rs#L1670-L1674C45
-                // Construct an unaligned buffer
-                let mut buffer = MutableBuffer::with_capacity(arrow_data.len() + 1);
-                buffer.push(0_u8);
-                buffer.extend_from_slice(arrow_data.as_slice());
-                let b = Buffer::from(buffer).slice(1);
+                let ipc_batch = message.header_as_record_batch().ok_or_else(|| {
+                    Error::General(
+                        "Unexpected message type deserializing ScalarValue::List"
+                            .to_string(),
+                    )
+                })?;
 
-                let ipc_batch = message.header_as_record_batch().unwrap();
                 let record_batch = read_record_batch(
-                    &b,
+                    &buffer,
                     ipc_batch,
                     Arc::new(schema),
                     &Default::default(),
                     None,
                     &message.version(),
                 )
-                .unwrap();
+                .map_err(DataFusionError::ArrowError)
+                .map_err(|e| e.context("Decoding ScalarValue::List Value"))?;
                 let arr = record_batch.column(0);
                 Self::List(arr.to_owned())
             }
diff --git a/datafusion/proto/src/logical_plan/to_proto.rs b/datafusion/proto/src/logical_plan/to_proto.rs
index e80d60931cf62..125ced032e20c 100644
--- a/datafusion/proto/src/logical_plan/to_proto.rs
+++ b/datafusion/proto/src/logical_plan/to_proto.rs
@@ -56,13 +56,6 @@ use datafusion_expr::{
 pub enum Error {
     General(String),
 
-    InconsistentListTyping(DataType, DataType),
-
-    InconsistentListDesignated {
-        value: ScalarValue,
-        designated: DataType,
-    },
-
     InvalidScalarValue(ScalarValue),
 
     InvalidScalarType(DataType),
@@ -80,18 +73,6 @@ impl std::fmt::Display for Error {
     fn fmt(&self, f: &mut std::fmt::Formatter) -> std::fmt::Result {
         match self {
             Self::General(desc) => write!(f, "General error: {desc}"),
-            Self::InconsistentListTyping(type1, type2) => {
-                write!(
-                    f,
-                    "Lists with inconsistent typing; {type1:?} and {type2:?} found within list",
-                )
-            }
-            Self::InconsistentListDesignated { value, designated } => {
-                write!(
-                    f,
-                    "Value {value:?} was inconsistent with designated type {designated:?}"
-                )
-            }
             Self::InvalidScalarValue(value) => {
                 write!(f, "{value:?} is invalid as a DataFusion scalar value")
             }
@@ -1145,15 +1126,27 @@ impl TryFrom<&ScalarValue> for protobuf::ScalarValue {
                 "Proto serialization error: ScalarValue::Fixedsizelist not supported"
                     .to_string(),
             )),
+            // ScalarValue::List is serialized using Arrow IPC messages.
+            // as a single column RecordBatch
             ScalarValue::List(arr) => {
-                let batch =
-                    RecordBatch::try_from_iter(vec![("field_name", arr.to_owned())])
-                        .unwrap();
+                // Wrap in a "field_name" column
+                let batch = RecordBatch::try_from_iter(vec![(
+                    "field_name",
+                    arr.to_owned(),
+                )])
+                .map_err(|e| {
+                   Error::General( format!("Error creating temporary batch while encoding ScalarValue::List: {e}"))
+                })?;
+
                 let gen = IpcDataGenerator {};
                 let mut dict_tracker = DictionaryTracker::new(false);
                 let (_, encoded_message) = gen
                     .encoded_batch(&batch, &mut dict_tracker, &Default::default())
-                    .unwrap();
+                    .map_err(|e| {
+                        Error::General(format!(
+                            "Error encoding ScalarValue::List as IPC: {e}"
+                        ))
+                    })?;
 
                 let schema: protobuf::Schema = batch.schema().try_into()?;