diff --git a/rclcpp/CMakeLists.txt b/rclcpp/CMakeLists.txt
index 81fbdc5..07a6762 100644
--- a/rclcpp/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/rclcpp/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -256,6 +256,11 @@ if(BUILD_TESTING)
     )
     target_link_libraries(test_node_global_args ${PROJECT_NAME})
   endif()
+  ament_add_gtest(test_node_options test/test_node_options.cpp)
+  if(TARGET test_node_options)
+    ament_target_dependencies(test_node_options "rcl")
+    target_link_libraries(test_node_options ${PROJECT_NAME})
+  endif()
   ament_add_gtest(test_parameter_client test/test_parameter_client.cpp)
   if(TARGET test_parameter_client)
     ament_target_dependencies(test_parameter_client
diff --git a/rclcpp/include/rclcpp/node_options.hpp b/rclcpp/include/rclcpp/node_options.hpp
index 82ead79..1a7fcfd 100644
--- a/rclcpp/include/rclcpp/node_options.hpp
+++ b/rclcpp/include/rclcpp/node_options.hpp
@@ -99,7 +99,8 @@ public:
   /// Set the arguments, return this for parameter idiom.
   /**
    * These arguments are used to extract remappings used by the node and other
-   * settings.
+   * settings. Being specific to a ROS node, an implicit `--ros-args` scope flag
+   * always precedes these arguments.
    *
    * This will cause the internal rcl_node_options_t struct to be invalidated.
    */
diff --git a/rclcpp/src/rclcpp/node_options.cpp b/rclcpp/src/rclcpp/node_options.cpp
index f13c411..7b348c4 100644
--- a/rclcpp/src/rclcpp/node_options.cpp
+++ b/rclcpp/src/rclcpp/node_options.cpp
@@ -90,11 +90,25 @@ NodeOptions::get_rcl_node_options() const
     node_options_->use_global_arguments = this->use_global_arguments_;
     node_options_->domain_id = this->get_domain_id_from_env();
 
-    std::unique_ptr<const char *[]> c_args;
+    int c_argc = 0;
+    std::unique_ptr<const char *[]> c_argv;
     if (!this->arguments_.empty()) {
-      c_args.reset(new const char *[this->arguments_.size()]);
-      for (std::size_t i = 0; i < this->arguments_.size(); ++i) {
-        c_args[i] = this->arguments_[i].c_str();
+      auto it = std::find(
+        this->arguments_.cbegin(), this->arguments_.cend(), RCL_ROS_ARGS_FLAG);
+
+      c_argc = static_cast<int>(this->arguments_.size());
+      if (it == this->arguments_.cend()) {
+        c_argc += 1;
+      }
+
+      c_argv.reset(new const char *[c_argc]);
+
+      std::size_t i = 0;
+      if (it == this->arguments_.cend()) {
+        c_argv[i++] = RCL_ROS_ARGS_FLAG;
+      }
+      for (std::size_t j = 0; j < this->arguments_.size(); ++i, ++j) {
+        c_argv[i] = this->arguments_[j].c_str();
       }
     }
 
@@ -103,8 +117,7 @@ NodeOptions::get_rcl_node_options() const
     }
 
     rmw_ret_t ret = rcl_parse_arguments(
-      static_cast<int>(this->arguments_.size()), c_args.get(), this->allocator_,
-      &(node_options_->arguments));
+      c_argc, c_argv.get(), this->allocator_, &(node_options_->arguments));
 
     if (RCL_RET_OK != ret) {
       throw_from_rcl_error(ret, "failed to parse arguments");
diff --git a/rclcpp/test/test_node_global_args.cpp b/rclcpp/test/test_node_global_args.cpp
index 504955f..19d5d7e 100644
--- a/rclcpp/test/test_node_global_args.cpp
+++ b/rclcpp/test/test_node_global_args.cpp
@@ -28,8 +28,8 @@ class TestNodeWithGlobalArgs : public ::testing::Test
 protected:
   static void SetUpTestCase()
   {
-    const char * const args[] = {"proc", "__node:=global_node_name"};
-    rclcpp::init(2, args);
+    const char * const args[] = {"proc", "--ros-args", "__node:=global_node_name"};
+    rclcpp::init(3, args);
   }
 };
 
diff --git a/rclcpp/test/test_node_options.cpp b/rclcpp/test/test_node_options.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cefe2be
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rclcpp/test/test_node_options.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,110 @@
+// Copyright 2019 Open Source Robotics Foundation, Inc.
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+#include <gtest/gtest.h>
+
+#include <string>
+#include <vector>
+
+#include "rcl/allocator.h"
+#include "rcl/arguments.h"
+#include "rcl/remap.h"
+
+#include "rclcpp/node_options.hpp"
+
+
+TEST(TestNodeOptions, implicit_ros_args) {
+  rcl_allocator_t allocator = rcl_get_default_allocator();
+  auto options = rclcpp::NodeOptions(allocator)
+    .arguments({"__node:=some_node", "__ns:=/some_ns"});
+
+  const rcl_node_options_t * rcl_options = options.get_rcl_node_options();
+  ASSERT_TRUE(rcl_options != nullptr);
+  ASSERT_EQ(0, rcl_arguments_get_count_unparsed(&rcl_options->arguments));
+  ASSERT_EQ(0, rcl_arguments_get_count_unparsed_ros(&rcl_options->arguments));
+
+  char * node_name = nullptr;
+  EXPECT_EQ(RCL_RET_OK, rcl_remap_node_name(
+      &rcl_options->arguments, nullptr, "my_node", allocator, &node_name));
+  ASSERT_TRUE(node_name != nullptr);
+  EXPECT_STREQ("some_node", node_name);
+  allocator.deallocate(node_name, allocator.state);
+
+  char * namespace_name = nullptr;
+  EXPECT_EQ(RCL_RET_OK, rcl_remap_node_namespace(
+      &rcl_options->arguments, nullptr, "my_ns", allocator, &namespace_name));
+  ASSERT_TRUE(namespace_name != nullptr);
+  EXPECT_STREQ("/some_ns", namespace_name);
+  allocator.deallocate(namespace_name, allocator.state);
+}
+
+TEST(TestNodeOptions, explicit_ros_args) {
+  rcl_allocator_t allocator = rcl_get_default_allocator();
+  auto options = rclcpp::NodeOptions(allocator)
+    .arguments({"--ros-args", "__node:=some_node", "__ns:=/some_ns"});
+
+  const rcl_node_options_t * rcl_options = options.get_rcl_node_options();
+  ASSERT_TRUE(rcl_options != nullptr);
+  ASSERT_EQ(0, rcl_arguments_get_count_unparsed(&rcl_options->arguments));
+  ASSERT_EQ(0, rcl_arguments_get_count_unparsed_ros(&rcl_options->arguments));
+
+  char * node_name = nullptr;
+  EXPECT_EQ(RCL_RET_OK, rcl_remap_node_name(
+      &rcl_options->arguments, nullptr, "my_node", allocator, &node_name));
+  ASSERT_TRUE(node_name != nullptr);
+  EXPECT_STREQ("some_node", node_name);
+  allocator.deallocate(node_name, allocator.state);
+
+  char * namespace_name = nullptr;
+  EXPECT_EQ(RCL_RET_OK, rcl_remap_node_namespace(
+      &rcl_options->arguments, nullptr, "my_ns", allocator, &namespace_name));
+  ASSERT_TRUE(namespace_name != nullptr);
+  EXPECT_STREQ("/some_ns", namespace_name);
+  allocator.deallocate(namespace_name, allocator.state);
+}
+
+TEST(TestNodeOptions, explicit_ros_args_and_non_ros_args) {
+  rcl_allocator_t allocator = rcl_get_default_allocator();
+  auto options = rclcpp::NodeOptions(allocator).arguments({
+    "--non-ros-flag", "--ros-args", "__node:=some_node",
+    "__ns:=/some_ns", "--", "non-ros-arg"});
+
+  const rcl_node_options_t * rcl_options = options.get_rcl_node_options();
+  ASSERT_TRUE(rcl_options != nullptr);
+  ASSERT_EQ(0, rcl_arguments_get_count_unparsed_ros(&rcl_options->arguments));
+  ASSERT_EQ(2, rcl_arguments_get_count_unparsed(&rcl_options->arguments));
+
+  char * node_name = nullptr;
+  EXPECT_EQ(RCL_RET_OK, rcl_remap_node_name(
+      &rcl_options->arguments, nullptr, "my_node", allocator, &node_name));
+  ASSERT_TRUE(node_name != nullptr);
+  EXPECT_STREQ("some_node", node_name);
+  allocator.deallocate(node_name, allocator.state);
+
+  char * namespace_name = nullptr;
+  EXPECT_EQ(RCL_RET_OK, rcl_remap_node_namespace(
+      &rcl_options->arguments, nullptr, "my_ns", allocator, &namespace_name));
+  ASSERT_TRUE(namespace_name != nullptr);
+  EXPECT_STREQ("/some_ns", namespace_name);
+  allocator.deallocate(namespace_name, allocator.state);
+
+  int * output_indices = nullptr;
+  EXPECT_EQ(RCL_RET_OK, rcl_arguments_get_unparsed(
+      &rcl_options->arguments, allocator, &output_indices));
+  ASSERT_TRUE(output_indices != nullptr);
+  const std::vector<std::string> & args = options.arguments();
+  EXPECT_EQ("--non-ros-flag", args[output_indices[0]]);
+  EXPECT_EQ("non-ros-arg", args[output_indices[1]]);
+  allocator.deallocate(output_indices, allocator.state);
+}
diff --git a/rclcpp/test/test_utilities.cpp b/rclcpp/test/test_utilities.cpp
index 1f7a03b..7f4d336 100644
--- a/rclcpp/test/test_utilities.cpp
+++ b/rclcpp/test/test_utilities.cpp
@@ -22,8 +22,10 @@
 #include "rclcpp/utilities.hpp"
 
 TEST(TestUtilities, remove_ros_arguments) {
-  const char * const argv[] = {"process_name", "-d", "__ns:=/foo/bar",
-    "__ns:=/fiz/buz", "--foo=bar", "--baz"};
+  const char * const argv[] = {
+    "process_name", "-d", "--ros-args", "__ns:=/foo/bar", "__ns:=/fiz/buz", "--",
+    "--foo=bar", "--baz"
+  };
   int argc = sizeof(argv) / sizeof(const char *);
   auto args = rclcpp::remove_ros_arguments(argc, argv);