diff --git a/src/databricks/sql/backend/sea/result_set.py b/src/databricks/sql/backend/sea/result_set.py
index afa70bc89..2a9b8b41c 100644
--- a/src/databricks/sql/backend/sea/result_set.py
+++ b/src/databricks/sql/backend/sea/result_set.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+import json
 from typing import Any, List, Optional, TYPE_CHECKING
 
 import logging
@@ -26,6 +27,8 @@
 class SeaResultSet(ResultSet):
     """ResultSet implementation for SEA backend."""
 
+    backend: SeaDatabricksClient
+
     def __init__(
         self,
         connection: Connection,
@@ -82,6 +85,43 @@ def __init__(
             arrow_schema_bytes=execute_response.arrow_schema_bytes,
         )
 
+    def _convert_complex_types_to_string(
+        self, rows: "pyarrow.Table"
+    ) -> "pyarrow.Table":
+        """
+        Convert complex types (array, struct, map) to string representation.
+        Args:
+            rows: Input PyArrow table
+        Returns:
+            PyArrow table with complex types converted to strings
+        """
+
+        if not pyarrow:
+            raise ImportError(
+                "PyArrow is not installed: _use_arrow_native_complex_types = False requires pyarrow"
+            )
+
+        def convert_complex_column_to_string(col: "pyarrow.Array") -> "pyarrow.Array":
+            python_values = col.to_pylist()
+            json_strings = [
+                (json.dumps(val) if val is not None else None) for val in python_values
+            ]
+            return pyarrow.array(json_strings, type=pyarrow.string())
+
+        converted_columns = []
+        for col in rows.columns:
+            converted_col = col
+            if (
+                pyarrow.types.is_list(col.type)
+                or pyarrow.types.is_large_list(col.type)
+                or pyarrow.types.is_struct(col.type)
+                or pyarrow.types.is_map(col.type)
+            ):
+                converted_col = convert_complex_column_to_string(col)
+            converted_columns.append(converted_col)
+
+        return pyarrow.Table.from_arrays(converted_columns, names=rows.column_names)
+
     def _convert_json_types(self, row: List[str]) -> List[Any]:
         """
         Convert string values in the row to appropriate Python types based on column metadata.
@@ -199,6 +239,9 @@ def fetchmany_arrow(self, size: int) -> "pyarrow.Table":
         if isinstance(self.results, JsonQueue):
             results = self._convert_json_to_arrow_table(results)
 
+        if not self.backend._use_arrow_native_complex_types:
+            results = self._convert_complex_types_to_string(results)
+
         self._next_row_index += results.num_rows
 
         return results
@@ -212,6 +255,9 @@ def fetchall_arrow(self) -> "pyarrow.Table":
         if isinstance(self.results, JsonQueue):
             results = self._convert_json_to_arrow_table(results)
 
+        if not self.backend._use_arrow_native_complex_types:
+            results = self._convert_complex_types_to_string(results)
+
         self._next_row_index += results.num_rows
 
         return results
diff --git a/tests/e2e/test_complex_types.py b/tests/e2e/test_complex_types.py
index 212ddf916..9b64b8794 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/test_complex_types.py
+++ b/tests/e2e/test_complex_types.py
@@ -56,10 +56,19 @@ def table_fixture(self, connection_details):
             ("map_array_col", list),
         ],
     )
-    def test_read_complex_types_as_arrow(self, field, expected_type, table_fixture):
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize(
+        "backend_params",
+        [
+            {},
+            {"use_sea": True},
+        ],
+    )
+    def test_read_complex_types_as_arrow(
+        self, field, expected_type, table_fixture, backend_params
+    ):
         """Confirms the return types of a complex type field when reading as arrow"""
 
-        with self.cursor() as cursor:
+        with self.cursor(extra_params=backend_params) as cursor:
             result = cursor.execute(
                 "SELECT * FROM pysql_test_complex_types_table LIMIT 1"
             ).fetchone()
@@ -77,11 +86,17 @@ def test_read_complex_types_as_arrow(self, field, expected_type, table_fixture):
             ("map_array_col"),
         ],
     )
-    def test_read_complex_types_as_string(self, field, table_fixture):
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize(
+        "backend_params",
+        [
+            {},
+            {"use_sea": True},
+        ],
+    )
+    def test_read_complex_types_as_string(self, field, table_fixture, backend_params):
         """Confirms the return type of a complex type that is returned as a string"""
-        with self.cursor(
-            extra_params={"_use_arrow_native_complex_types": False}
-        ) as cursor:
+        extra_params = {**backend_params, "_use_arrow_native_complex_types": False}
+        with self.cursor(extra_params=extra_params) as cursor:
             result = cursor.execute(
                 "SELECT * FROM pysql_test_complex_types_table LIMIT 1"
             ).fetchone()