diff --git a/gibaseinfo.c b/gibaseinfo.c
index c8444a5ea..81b936d85 100644
--- a/gibaseinfo.c
+++ b/gibaseinfo.c
@@ -475,7 +475,7 @@ g_base_info_get_attribute (GIBaseInfo   *info,
 
 static int
 cmp_attribute (const void *av,
-                const void *bv)
+               const void *bv)
 {
   const AttributeBlob *a = av;
   const AttributeBlob *b = bv;
@@ -488,13 +488,25 @@ cmp_attribute (const void *av,
     return 1;
 }
 
-static AttributeBlob *
-find_first_attribute (GIRealInfo *rinfo)
+/*
+ * _attribute_blob_find_first:
+ * @GIBaseInfo: A #GIBaseInfo.
+ * @blob_offset: The offset for the blob to find the first attribute for.
+ *
+ * Searches for the first #AttributeBlob for @blob_offset and returns
+ * it if found.
+ *
+ * Returns: A pointer to #AttributeBlob or %NULL if not found.
+ */
+AttributeBlob *
+_attribute_blob_find_first (GIBaseInfo *info,
+                            guint32     blob_offset)
 {
+  GIRealInfo *rinfo = (GIRealInfo *) info;
   Header *header = (Header *)rinfo->typelib->data;
   AttributeBlob blob, *first, *res, *previous;
 
-  blob.offset = rinfo->offset;
+  blob.offset = blob_offset;
 
   first = (AttributeBlob *) &rinfo->typelib->data[header->attributes];
 
@@ -505,7 +517,7 @@ find_first_attribute (GIRealInfo *rinfo)
     return NULL;
 
   previous = res - 1;
-  while (previous >= first && previous->offset == rinfo->offset)
+  while (previous >= first && previous->offset == blob_offset)
     {
       res = previous;
       previous = res - 1;
@@ -563,7 +575,7 @@ g_base_info_iterate_attributes (GIBaseInfo      *info,
   if (iterator->data != NULL)
     next = (AttributeBlob *) iterator->data;
   else
-    next = find_first_attribute (rinfo);
+    next = _attribute_blob_find_first (info, rinfo->offset);
 
   if (next == NULL || next->offset != rinfo->offset || next >= after)
     return FALSE;
diff --git a/gicallableinfo.c b/gicallableinfo.c
index 6097cb483..6b79e62cc 100644
--- a/gicallableinfo.c
+++ b/gicallableinfo.c
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@
  * Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
  */
 
+#include <stdlib.h>
+
 #include <glib.h>
 
 #include <girepository.h>
@@ -259,3 +261,77 @@ g_callable_info_load_arg (GICallableInfo *info,
   _g_info_init ((GIRealInfo*)arg, GI_INFO_TYPE_ARG, rinfo->repository, (GIBaseInfo*)info, rinfo->typelib,
                 offset + header->signature_blob_size + n * header->arg_blob_size);
 }
+
+/**
+ * g_callable_info_get_return_attribute:
+ * @info: a #GICallableInfo
+ * @name: a freeform string naming an attribute
+ *
+ * Retrieve an arbitrary attribute associated with the return value.
+ *
+ * Returns: The value of the attribute, or %NULL if no such attribute exists
+ */
+const gchar *
+g_callable_info_get_return_attribute (GICallableInfo  *info,
+                                      const gchar     *name)
+{
+  GIAttributeIter iter = { 0, };
+  gchar *curname, *curvalue;
+  while (g_callable_info_iterate_return_attributes (info, &iter, &curname, &curvalue))
+    {
+      if (g_strcmp0 (name, curname) == 0)
+        return (const gchar*) curvalue;
+    }
+
+  return NULL;
+}
+
+/**
+ * g_callable_info_iterate_return_attributes:
+ * @info: a #GICallableInfo
+ * @iterator: a #GIAttributeIter structure, must be initialized; see below
+ * @name: (out) (transfer none): Returned name, must not be freed
+ * @value: (out) (transfer none): Returned name, must not be freed
+ *
+ * Iterate over all attributes associated with the return value.  The
+ * iterator structure is typically stack allocated, and must have its
+ * first member initialized to %NULL.
+ *
+ * Both the @name and @value should be treated as constants
+ * and must not be freed.
+ *
+ * See g_base_info_iterate_attributes() for an example of how to use a
+ * similar API.
+ *
+ * Returns: %TRUE if there are more attributes
+ */
+gboolean
+g_callable_info_iterate_return_attributes (GICallableInfo  *info,
+                                           GIAttributeIter *iterator,
+                                           char           **name,
+                                           char          **value)
+{
+  GIRealInfo *rinfo = (GIRealInfo *)info;
+  Header *header = (Header *)rinfo->typelib->data;
+  AttributeBlob *next, *after;
+  guint32 blob_offset;
+
+  after = (AttributeBlob *) &rinfo->typelib->data[header->attributes +
+                                                  header->n_attributes * header->attribute_blob_size];
+
+  blob_offset = signature_offset (info);
+
+  if (iterator->data != NULL)
+    next = (AttributeBlob *) iterator->data;
+  else
+    next = _attribute_blob_find_first (info, blob_offset);
+
+  if (next == NULL || next->offset != blob_offset || next >= after)
+    return FALSE;
+
+  *name = (gchar*) g_typelib_get_string (rinfo->typelib, next->name);
+  *value = (gchar*) g_typelib_get_string (rinfo->typelib, next->value);
+  iterator->data = next + 1;
+
+  return TRUE;
+}
diff --git a/gicallableinfo.h b/gicallableinfo.h
index 479baa2ae..54d2cacb7 100644
--- a/gicallableinfo.h
+++ b/gicallableinfo.h
@@ -39,6 +39,12 @@ G_BEGIN_DECLS
 GITypeInfo *           g_callable_info_get_return_type (GICallableInfo *info);
 void                   g_callable_info_load_return_type (GICallableInfo *info,
                                                          GITypeInfo     *type);
+const gchar *          g_callable_info_get_return_attribute (GICallableInfo *info,
+                                                             const gchar    *name);
+gboolean               g_callable_info_iterate_return_attributes (GICallableInfo  *info,
+                                                                  GIAttributeIter *iterator,
+                                                                  char           **name,
+                                                                  char          **value);
 GITransfer             g_callable_info_get_caller_owns (GICallableInfo *info);
 gboolean               g_callable_info_may_return_null (GICallableInfo *info);
 gint                   g_callable_info_get_n_args      (GICallableInfo *info);
diff --git a/girnode.c b/girnode.c
index fbdcdf965..576ac1006 100644
--- a/girnode.c
+++ b/girnode.c
@@ -1678,6 +1678,14 @@ g_ir_node_build_typelib (GIrNode         *node,
 	blob->symbol = write_string (function->symbol, strings, data, offset2);
 	blob->signature = signature;
 
+        /* function->result is special since it doesn't appear in the serialized format but
+         * we do want the attributes for it to appear
+         */
+        build->nodes_with_attributes = g_list_prepend (build->nodes_with_attributes, function->result);
+        build->n_attributes += g_hash_table_size (((GIrNode *) function->result)->attributes);
+        g_assert (((GIrNode *) function->result)->offset == 0);
+        ((GIrNode *) function->result)->offset = signature;
+
 	g_debug ("building function '%s'", function->symbol);
 
         g_ir_node_build_typelib ((GIrNode *)function->result->type,
@@ -1770,6 +1778,14 @@ g_ir_node_build_typelib (GIrNode         *node,
 	blob->name = write_string (node->name, strings, data, offset2);
 	blob->signature = signature;
 
+        /* signal->result is special since it doesn't appear in the serialized format but
+         * we do want the attributes for it to appear
+         */
+        build->nodes_with_attributes = g_list_prepend (build->nodes_with_attributes, signal->result);
+        build->n_attributes += g_hash_table_size (((GIrNode *) signal->result)->attributes);
+        g_assert (((GIrNode *) signal->result)->offset == 0);
+        ((GIrNode *) signal->result)->offset = signature;
+
         g_ir_node_build_typelib ((GIrNode *)signal->result->type,
 				 node, build, &signature, offset2);
 
diff --git a/girparser.c b/girparser.c
index 2713bb463..5efe7fded 100644
--- a/girparser.c
+++ b/girparser.c
@@ -1990,7 +1990,14 @@ start_attribute (GMarkupParseContext *context,
 
   curnode = CURRENT_NODE (ctx);
 
-  g_hash_table_insert (curnode->attributes, g_strdup (name), g_strdup (value));
+  if (ctx->current_typed && ctx->current_typed->type == G_IR_NODE_PARAM)
+    {
+      g_hash_table_insert (ctx->current_typed->attributes, g_strdup (name), g_strdup (value));
+    }
+  else
+    {
+      g_hash_table_insert (curnode->attributes, g_strdup (name), g_strdup (value));
+    }
 
   return TRUE;
 }
diff --git a/girwriter.c b/girwriter.c
index b123a1345..19862b0da 100644
--- a/girwriter.c
+++ b/girwriter.c
@@ -358,7 +358,7 @@ write_type_info (const gchar *namespace,
 
 static void
 write_attributes (Xml *file,
-                   GIBaseInfo *info)
+                  GIBaseInfo *info)
 {
   GIAttributeIter iter = { 0, };
   char *name, *value;
@@ -371,6 +371,21 @@ write_attributes (Xml *file,
     }
 }
 
+static void
+write_return_value_attributes (Xml *file,
+                               GICallableInfo *info)
+{
+  GIAttributeIter iter = { 0, };
+  char *name, *value;
+
+  while (g_callable_info_iterate_return_attributes (info, &iter, &name, &value))
+    {
+      xml_start_element (file, "attribute");
+      xml_printf (file, " name=\"%s\" value=\"%s\"", name, value);
+      xml_end_element (file, "attribute");
+    }
+}
+
 static void
 write_constant_value (const gchar *namespace,
 		      GITypeInfo *info,
@@ -467,6 +482,8 @@ write_callable_info (const gchar    *namespace,
   if (g_callable_info_may_return_null (info))
     xml_printf (file, " allow-none=\"1\"");
 
+  write_return_value_attributes (file, info);
+
   write_type_info (namespace, type, file);
 
   xml_end_element (file, "return-value");
@@ -528,6 +545,8 @@ write_callable_info (const gchar    *namespace,
       if (g_arg_info_get_destroy (arg) >= 0)
         xml_printf (file, " destroy=\"%d\"", g_arg_info_get_destroy (arg));
 
+      write_attributes (file, (GIBaseInfo*) arg);
+
       type = g_arg_info_get_type (arg);
       write_type_info (namespace, type, file);
 
diff --git a/gitypelib-internal.h b/gitypelib-internal.h
index 90113ac2c..d4577acc7 100644
--- a/gitypelib-internal.h
+++ b/gitypelib-internal.h
@@ -1110,6 +1110,10 @@ gboolean g_typelib_validate (GTypelib  *typelib,
 			     GError    **error);
 
 
+/* defined in gibaseinfo.c */
+AttributeBlob *_attribute_blob_find_first (GIBaseInfo *info,
+                                           guint32     blob_offset);
+
 G_END_DECLS
 
 #endif  /* __G_TYPELIB_H__ */