diff --git a/rcl/include/rcl/context.h b/rcl/include/rcl/context.h
index 805b5b39c..4a40f4466 100644
--- a/rcl/include/rcl/context.h
+++ b/rcl/include/rcl/context.h
@@ -314,22 +314,15 @@ RCL_WARN_UNUSED
 rmw_context_t *
 rcl_context_get_rmw_context(rcl_context_t * context);
 
-/// Returns the thread attribute context.
+/// Returns pointer to the thread attribute list.
 /**
- * \param[in] context from which the thread attribute should be retrieved.
- * \param[out] thread_attrs output variable where the thread attribute will be returned.
- * \return #RCL_RET_INVALID_ARGUMENT if `context` is invalid (see rcl_context_is_valid()), or
- * \return #RCL_RET_INVALID_ARGUMENT if `context->impl` is `NULL`, or
- * \return #RCL_RET_INVALID_ARGUMENT if `*thread_attrs` is not `NULL`, or
- * \return #RCL_RET_INVALID_ARGUMENT if `context->impl->thread_context.thread_attrs` is `NULL`, or
- * \return #RCL_RET_OK if the thread attribute was correctly retrieved.
+ * \param[in] context object from which the thread attribute list should be retrieved.
+ * \return pointer to thread attribute list if valid, otherwise `NULL`
  */
 RCL_PUBLIC
 RCL_WARN_UNUSED
-rcl_ret_t
-rcl_context_get_thread_attrs(
-  const rcl_context_t * context,
-  rcutils_thread_attrs_t ** thread_attrs);
+rcutils_thread_attrs_t *
+rcl_context_get_thread_attrs(const rcl_context_t * context);
 
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
diff --git a/rcl/src/rcl/arguments.c b/rcl/src/rcl/arguments.c
index 64627388f..2ed84b76b 100644
--- a/rcl/src/rcl/arguments.c
+++ b/rcl/src/rcl/arguments.c
@@ -581,18 +581,18 @@ rcl_parse_arguments(
             rcl_parse_yaml_thread_attrs_value(argv[i + 1], &args_impl->thread_attrs))
           {
             RCUTILS_LOG_DEBUG_NAMED(
-              ROS_PACKAGE_NAME, "Got thread attribute rule : %s\n", argv[i + 1]);
+              ROS_PACKAGE_NAME, "Got thread attributes value : %s\n", argv[i + 1]);
             ++i;  // Skip flag here, for loop will skip rule.
             continue;
           }
           rcl_error_string_t prev_error_string = rcl_get_error_string();
           rcl_reset_error();
           RCL_SET_ERROR_MSG_WITH_FORMAT_STRING(
-            "Couldn't parse thread attribute rule: '%s %s'. Error: %s", argv[i], argv[i + 1],
+            "Couldn't parse thread attributes value: '%s %s'. Error: %s", argv[i], argv[i + 1],
             prev_error_string.str);
         } else {
           RCL_SET_ERROR_MSG_WITH_FORMAT_STRING(
-            "Couldn't parse trailing %s flag. No thread attribute rule found.", argv[i]);
+            "Couldn't parse trailing %s flag. No thread attributes value found.", argv[i]);
         }
         ret = RCL_RET_INVALID_ROS_ARGS;
         goto fail;
@@ -615,13 +615,15 @@ rcl_parse_arguments(
             RCL_RET_OK == rcl_parse_yaml_thread_attrs_file(
               argv[i + 1], &args_impl->thread_attrs))
           {
+            RCUTILS_LOG_DEBUG_NAMED(
+              ROS_PACKAGE_NAME, "Got thread attributes file : %s\n", argv[i + 1]);
             ++i;  // Skip flag here, for loop will skip rule.
             continue;
           }
           rcl_error_string_t prev_error_string = rcl_get_error_string();
           rcl_reset_error();
           RCL_SET_ERROR_MSG_WITH_FORMAT_STRING(
-            "Couldn't parse thread attr file: '%s %s'. Error: %s", argv[i], argv[i + 1],
+            "Couldn't parse thread attributes file: '%s %s'. Error: %s", argv[i], argv[i + 1],
             prev_error_string.str);
         } else {
           RCL_SET_ERROR_MSG_WITH_FORMAT_STRING(
@@ -1000,6 +1002,18 @@ rcl_arguments_copy(
     return RCL_RET_BAD_ALLOC;
   }
   args_out->impl->enclave = enclave_copy;
+
+  // Copy thread attributes
+  if (0 < args->impl->thread_attrs.num_attributes) {
+    rcutils_ret_t thread_attrs_ret =
+      rcutils_thread_attrs_copy(&args->impl->thread_attrs, &args_out->impl->thread_attrs);
+    if (RCUTILS_RET_OK != thread_attrs_ret) {
+      if (RCL_RET_OK != rcl_arguments_fini(args_out)) {
+        RCL_SET_ERROR_MSG("Error while finalizing arguments due to another error");
+      }
+      return RCL_RET_BAD_ALLOC;
+    }
+  }
   return RCL_RET_OK;
 }
 
diff --git a/rcl/src/rcl/context.c b/rcl/src/rcl/context.c
index c30497857..cc8477b9e 100644
--- a/rcl/src/rcl/context.c
+++ b/rcl/src/rcl/context.c
@@ -106,21 +106,20 @@ rcl_context_get_rmw_context(rcl_context_t * context)
   return &(context->impl->rmw_context);
 }
 
-rcl_ret_t
-rcl_context_get_thread_attrs(
-  const rcl_context_t * context,
-  rcutils_thread_attrs_t ** thread_attrs)
+rcutils_thread_attrs_t *
+rcl_context_get_thread_attrs(const rcl_context_t * context)
 {
-  RCL_CHECK_ARGUMENT_FOR_NULL(context, RCL_RET_INVALID_ARGUMENT);
-  RCL_CHECK_ARGUMENT_FOR_NULL(context->impl, RCL_RET_INVALID_ARGUMENT);
-  RCL_CHECK_ARGUMENT_FOR_NULL(thread_attrs, RCL_RET_INVALID_ARGUMENT);
+  RCL_CHECK_ARGUMENT_FOR_NULL(context, NULL);
+  RCL_CHECK_FOR_NULL_WITH_MSG(context->impl, "context is zero-initialized", return NULL);
 
-  if (0 < context->impl->thread_attrs.num_attributes) {
-    *thread_attrs = &context->impl->thread_attrs;
-    return RCL_RET_OK;
-  } else {
-    return RCL_RET_ERROR;
+  rcutils_thread_attrs_t * attrs = NULL;
+  rcl_ret_t ret = rcl_arguments_get_thread_attrs(&context->global_arguments, &attrs);
+  if (RCL_RET_OK != ret) {
+    if (0 < context->impl->thread_attrs.num_attributes) {
+      attrs = &context->impl->thread_attrs;
+    }
   }
+  return attrs;
 }
 
 rcl_ret_t
diff --git a/rcl/test/CMakeLists.txt b/rcl/test/CMakeLists.txt
index 1b73ab5e6..ae128aace 100644
--- a/rcl/test/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/rcl/test/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ function(test_target_function)
     SRCS rcl/test_context.cpp
     ENV ${rmw_implementation_env_var} ${memory_tools_ld_preload_env_var}
     APPEND_LIBRARY_DIRS ${extra_lib_dirs}
+    INCLUDE_DIRS ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/../src/rcl/
     LIBRARIES ${PROJECT_NAME} mimick osrf_testing_tools_cpp::memory_tools
     AMENT_DEPENDENCIES ${rmw_implementation}
   )
diff --git a/rcl/test/rcl/test_arguments.cpp b/rcl/test/rcl/test_arguments.cpp
index 02f8371a7..c3a34897d 100644
--- a/rcl/test/rcl/test_arguments.cpp
+++ b/rcl/test/rcl/test_arguments.cpp
@@ -201,6 +201,16 @@ TEST_F(CLASSNAME(TestArgumentsFixture, RMW_IMPLEMENTATION), check_known_vs_unkno
   EXPECT_FALSE(are_known_ros_args({"--ros-args", "stdout-logs"}));
   EXPECT_FALSE(are_known_ros_args({"--ros-args", "external-lib-logs"}));
   EXPECT_FALSE(are_known_ros_args({"--ros-args", "external-lib-logs"}));
+
+  // Thread attributes
+  EXPECT_TRUE(
+    are_known_ros_args(
+      {"--ros-args", "--thread-attrs-file",
+        (test_path / "test_thread_attrs.yaml").string().c_str()}));
+  EXPECT_TRUE(
+    are_known_ros_args(
+      {"--ros-args", "--thread-attrs-value",
+        "[{priority: 10, scheduling_policy: FIFO, name: thread-1, core_affinity: 1}]"}));
 }
 
 bool
@@ -226,7 +236,9 @@ TEST_F(CLASSNAME(TestArgumentsFixture, RMW_IMPLEMENTATION), check_valid_vs_inval
   {
     "--ros-args", "-p", "foo:=bar", "-r", "__node:=node_name",
     "--params-file", parameters_filepath.c_str(), "--log-level", "INFO",
-    "--log-config-file", "file.config"
+    "--log-config-file", "file.config",
+    "--thread-attrs-value",
+    "[{priority: 10, scheduling_policy: IDLE, name: thread-1, core_affinity: 1}]"
   }));
 
   // ROS args unknown to rcl are not (necessarily) invalid
diff --git a/rcl/test/rcl/test_context.cpp b/rcl/test/rcl/test_context.cpp
index 31e4100b3..925cac57b 100644
--- a/rcl/test/rcl/test_context.cpp
+++ b/rcl/test/rcl/test_context.cpp
@@ -24,6 +24,11 @@
 
 #include "../mocking_utils/patch.hpp"
 
+#include "rcutils/thread_attr.h"
+
+#include "./arguments_impl.h"
+#include "./context_impl.h"
+
 #ifdef RMW_IMPLEMENTATION
 # define CLASSNAME_(NAME, SUFFIX) NAME ## __ ## SUFFIX
 # define CLASSNAME(NAME, SUFFIX) CLASSNAME_(NAME, SUFFIX)
@@ -147,6 +152,45 @@ TEST_F(CLASSNAME(TestContextFixture, RMW_IMPLEMENTATION), nominal) {
   EXPECT_NE(rmw_context_ptr, nullptr) << rcl_get_error_string().str;
   rcl_reset_error();
 
+  // test rcl_context_get_thread_attrs
+  rcutils_thread_attrs_t * thread_attrs;
+  EXPECT_NO_MEMORY_OPERATIONS(
+  {
+    thread_attrs = rcl_context_get_thread_attrs(nullptr);
+  });
+  EXPECT_EQ(nullptr, thread_attrs);
+  EXPECT_TRUE(rcl_error_is_set());
+  rcl_reset_error();
+
+  EXPECT_NO_MEMORY_OPERATIONS(
+  {
+    EXPECT_EQ(nullptr, rcl_context_get_thread_attrs(&context));
+  });
+
+  {
+    rcutils_thread_attrs_t * arg_attrs = &context.global_arguments.impl->thread_attrs;
+    rcutils_thread_attrs_t * ctx_attrs = &context.impl->thread_attrs;
+    rcutils_ret_t ret;
+
+    ret = rcutils_thread_attrs_init(ctx_attrs, rcl_get_default_allocator());
+    EXPECT_EQ(RCUTILS_RET_OK, ret);
+    ret = rcutils_thread_attrs_add_attr(
+      ctx_attrs, RCUTILS_THREAD_SCHEDULING_POLICY_FIFO, 1, 10, "arg");
+    EXPECT_EQ(RCUTILS_RET_OK, ret);
+
+    EXPECT_EQ(ctx_attrs, rcl_context_get_thread_attrs(&context));
+
+    ret = rcutils_thread_attrs_copy(ctx_attrs, arg_attrs);
+    EXPECT_EQ(RCUTILS_RET_OK, ret);
+
+    EXPECT_EQ(arg_attrs, rcl_context_get_thread_attrs(&context));
+
+    ret = rcutils_thread_attrs_fini(ctx_attrs);
+    EXPECT_EQ(RCUTILS_RET_OK, ret);
+    ret = rcutils_thread_attrs_fini(arg_attrs);
+    EXPECT_EQ(RCUTILS_RET_OK, ret);
+  }
+
   ret = rcl_init_options_fini(&init_options);
   EXPECT_EQ(RCL_RET_OK, ret) << rcl_get_error_string().str;
 }
diff --git a/rcl/test/resources/test_arguments/test_thread_attrs.yaml b/rcl/test/resources/test_arguments/test_thread_attrs.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e784b8cac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rcl/test/resources/test_arguments/test_thread_attrs.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+- name: thread-1
+  priority: 10
+  scheduling_policy: FIFO
+  core_affinity: 1
+- name: thread-2
+  priority: 20
+  scheduling_policy: RR
+  core_affinity: 2