diff --git a/python/ray/data/datasource/parquet_meta_provider.py b/python/ray/data/datasource/parquet_meta_provider.py
index c8484574da18..73a3c41ef6e2 100644
--- a/python/ray/data/datasource/parquet_meta_provider.py
+++ b/python/ray/data/datasource/parquet_meta_provider.py
@@ -41,10 +41,10 @@ def __init__(self, fragment_metadata: "pyarrow.parquet.FileMetaData"):
         self.num_row_groups = fragment_metadata.num_row_groups
         self.num_rows = fragment_metadata.num_rows
         self.serialized_size = fragment_metadata.serialized_size
-        # This is a pickled schema object, to be set later with
-        # `self.set_schema_pickled()`. To get the underlying schema, use
-        # `cloudpickle.loads(self.schema_pickled)`.
-        self.schema_pickled = None
+
+        # Serialize the schema directly in the constructor
+        schema_ser = cloudpickle.dumps(fragment_metadata.schema.to_arrow_schema())
+        self.schema_pickled = schema_ser
 
         # Calculate the total byte size of the file fragment using the original
         # object, as it is not possible to access row groups from this class.
@@ -150,10 +150,16 @@ def fetch_func(fragments):
                     **ray_remote_args,
                 )
             )
+
+            return _dedupe_schemas(raw_metadata)
+
         else:
+            # We don't deduplicate schemas in this branch because they're already
+            # deduplicated in `_fetch_metadata`. See
+            # https://github.com/ray-project/ray/pull/54821/files#r2265140929 for
+            # related discussion.
             raw_metadata = _fetch_metadata(fragments)
-
-        return _dedupe_metadata(raw_metadata)
+            return raw_metadata
 
 
 def _fetch_metadata_serialization_wrapper(
@@ -161,7 +167,7 @@ def _fetch_metadata_serialization_wrapper(
     retry_match: Optional[List[str]],
     retry_max_attempts: int,
     retry_max_interval: int,
-) -> List["pyarrow.parquet.FileMetaData"]:
+) -> List["_ParquetFileFragmentMetaData"]:
     from ray.data._internal.datasource.parquet_datasource import (
         _deserialize_fragments_with_retry,
     )
@@ -209,39 +215,53 @@ def _fetch_metadata_serialization_wrapper(
 
 def _fetch_metadata(
     fragments: List["pyarrow.dataset.ParquetFileFragment"],
-) -> List["pyarrow.parquet.FileMetaData"]:
-    fragment_metadata = []
+) -> List[_ParquetFileFragmentMetaData]:
+    fragment_metadatas = []
     for f in fragments:
         try:
-            fragment_metadata.append(f.metadata)
+            # Convert directly to _ParquetFileFragmentMetaData
+            fragment_metadatas.append(_ParquetFileFragmentMetaData(f.metadata))
         except AttributeError:
             break
-    return fragment_metadata
+    # Deduplicate schemas to reduce memory usage
+    return _dedupe_schemas(fragment_metadatas)
 
 
-def _dedupe_metadata(
-    raw_metadatas: List["pyarrow.parquet.FileMetaData"],
+def _dedupe_schemas(
+    metadatas: List[_ParquetFileFragmentMetaData],
 ) -> List[_ParquetFileFragmentMetaData]:
-    """For datasets with a large number of columns, the FileMetaData
-    (in particular the schema) can be very large. We can reduce the
-    memory usage by only keeping unique schema objects across all
-    file fragments. This method deduplicates the schemas and returns
-    a list of `_ParquetFileFragmentMetaData` objects."""
-    schema_to_id = {}  # schema_id -> serialized_schema
-    id_to_schema = {}  # serialized_schema -> schema_id
-    stripped_metadatas = []
-    for fragment_metadata in raw_metadatas:
-        stripped_md = _ParquetFileFragmentMetaData(fragment_metadata)
+    """Deduplicates schema objects across existing _ParquetFileFragmentMetaData objects.
+
+    For datasets with a large number of columns, the pickled schema can be very large.
+    This function reduces memory usage by ensuring that identical schemas across multiple
+    fragment metadata objects reference the same underlying pickled schema object,
+    rather than each fragment maintaining its own copy.
+
+    Args:
+        metadatas: List of _ParquetFileFragmentMetaData objects that already have
+                  pickled schemas set.
+
+    Returns:
+        The same list of _ParquetFileFragmentMetaData objects, but with duplicate
+        schemas deduplicated to reference the same object in memory.
+    """
+    schema_to_id = {}  # schema_ser -> schema_id
+    id_to_schema = {}  # schema_id -> schema_ser
+
+    for metadata in metadatas:
+        # Get the current schema serialization
+        schema_ser = metadata.schema_pickled
 
-        schema_ser = cloudpickle.dumps(fragment_metadata.schema.to_arrow_schema())
         if schema_ser not in schema_to_id:
+            # This is a new unique schema
             schema_id = len(schema_to_id)
             schema_to_id[schema_ser] = schema_id
             id_to_schema[schema_id] = schema_ser
-            stripped_md.set_schema_pickled(schema_ser)
+            # No need to set schema_pickled - it already has the correct value
         else:
-            schema_id = schema_to_id.get(schema_ser)
+            # This schema already exists, reuse the existing one
+            schema_id = schema_to_id[schema_ser]
             existing_schema_ser = id_to_schema[schema_id]
-            stripped_md.set_schema_pickled(existing_schema_ser)
-        stripped_metadatas.append(stripped_md)
-    return stripped_metadatas
+            metadata.set_schema_pickled(existing_schema_ser)
+
+    return metadatas