diff --git a/image_transport/include/image_transport/camera_publisher.hpp b/image_transport/include/image_transport/camera_publisher.hpp
index 9ed81b07..ad80328c 100644
--- a/image_transport/include/image_transport/camera_publisher.hpp
+++ b/image_transport/include/image_transport/camera_publisher.hpp
@@ -111,6 +111,14 @@ class CameraPublisher
     const sensor_msgs::msg::Image::ConstSharedPtr & image,
     const sensor_msgs::msg::CameraInfo::ConstSharedPtr & info) const;
 
+  /*!
+   * \brief Publish an (image, info) pair on the topics associated with this CameraPublisher.
+   */
+  IMAGE_TRANSPORT_PUBLIC
+  void publish(
+    sensor_msgs::msg::Image::UniquePtr image,
+    sensor_msgs::msg::CameraInfo::UniquePtr info) const;
+
   /*!
    * \brief Publish an (image, info) pair with given timestamp on the topics associated with
    * this CameraPublisher.
@@ -123,6 +131,19 @@ class CameraPublisher
     sensor_msgs::msg::Image & image, sensor_msgs::msg::CameraInfo & info,
     rclcpp::Time stamp) const;
 
+  /*!
+   * \brief Publish an (image, info) pair with given timestamp on the topics associated with
+   * this CameraPublisher.
+   *
+   * Convenience version, which sets the timestamps of both image and info to stamp before
+   * publishing.
+   */
+  IMAGE_TRANSPORT_PUBLIC
+  void publish(
+    sensor_msgs::msg::Image::UniquePtr image,
+    sensor_msgs::msg::CameraInfo::UniquePtr info,
+    rclcpp::Time stamp) const;
+
   /*!
    * \brief Shutdown the advertisements associated with this Publisher.
    */
diff --git a/image_transport/include/image_transport/publisher.hpp b/image_transport/include/image_transport/publisher.hpp
index dc28d017..4f529121 100644
--- a/image_transport/include/image_transport/publisher.hpp
+++ b/image_transport/include/image_transport/publisher.hpp
@@ -103,6 +103,12 @@ class Publisher
   IMAGE_TRANSPORT_PUBLIC
   void publish(const sensor_msgs::msg::Image::ConstSharedPtr & message) const;
 
+  /*!
+   * \brief Publish an image on the topics associated with this Publisher.
+   */
+  IMAGE_TRANSPORT_PUBLIC
+  void publish(sensor_msgs::msg::Image::UniquePtr message) const;
+
   /*!
    * \brief Shutdown the advertisements associated with this Publisher.
    */
diff --git a/image_transport/include/image_transport/publisher_plugin.hpp b/image_transport/include/image_transport/publisher_plugin.hpp
index d899349e..c545b4ca 100644
--- a/image_transport/include/image_transport/publisher_plugin.hpp
+++ b/image_transport/include/image_transport/publisher_plugin.hpp
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 #ifndef IMAGE_TRANSPORT__PUBLISHER_PLUGIN_HPP_
 #define IMAGE_TRANSPORT__PUBLISHER_PLUGIN_HPP_
 
+#include <stdexcept>
 #include <string>
 #include <vector>
 
@@ -59,6 +60,14 @@ class PublisherPlugin
    */
   virtual std::string getTransportName() const = 0;
 
+  /**
+   * \brief Check whether this plugin supports publishing using UniquePtr.
+   */
+  virtual bool supportsUniquePtrPub() const
+  {
+    return false;
+  }
+
   /**
    * \brief Advertise a topic, simple version.
    */
@@ -95,6 +104,18 @@ class PublisherPlugin
     publish(*message);
   }
 
+  /**
+   * \brief Publish an image using the transport associated with this PublisherPlugin.
+   * This version of the function can be used to optimize cases where the Plugin can
+   * avoid doing copies of the data when having the ownership to the image message.
+   * Plugins that can take advantage of message ownership should overwrite this method
+   * along with supportsUniquePtrPub().
+   */
+  virtual void publishUniquePtr(sensor_msgs::msg::Image::UniquePtr /*message*/) const
+  {
+    throw std::logic_error("publishUniquePtr() is not implemented.");
+  }
+
   /**
    * \brief Publish an image using the transport associated with this PublisherPlugin.
    * This version of the function can be used to optimize cases where you don't want to
diff --git a/image_transport/include/image_transport/raw_publisher.hpp b/image_transport/include/image_transport/raw_publisher.hpp
index e52b26b9..65fed4a7 100644
--- a/image_transport/include/image_transport/raw_publisher.hpp
+++ b/image_transport/include/image_transport/raw_publisher.hpp
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 #define IMAGE_TRANSPORT__RAW_PUBLISHER_HPP_
 
 #include <string>
+#include <utility>
 
 #include "sensor_msgs/msg/image.hpp"
 
@@ -56,12 +57,30 @@ class RawPublisher : public SimplePublisherPlugin<sensor_msgs::msg::Image>
     return "raw";
   }
 
+  virtual bool supportsUniquePtrPub() const
+  {
+    return true;
+  }
+
 protected:
+  [[deprecated("Use publish(const sensor_msgs::msg::Image&, const PublisherT&) instead.")]]
   virtual void publish(const sensor_msgs::msg::Image & message, const PublishFn & publish_fn) const
   {
     publish_fn(message);
   }
 
+  virtual void publish(const sensor_msgs::msg::Image & message, const PublisherT & publisher) const
+  {
+    publisher->publish(message);
+  }
+
+  virtual void publish(
+    sensor_msgs::msg::Image::UniquePtr message,
+    const PublisherT & publisher) const
+  {
+    publisher->publish(std::move(message));
+  }
+
   virtual std::string getTopicToAdvertise(const std::string & base_topic) const
   {
     return base_topic;
diff --git a/image_transport/include/image_transport/simple_publisher_plugin.hpp b/image_transport/include/image_transport/simple_publisher_plugin.hpp
index f088c874..4ca77524 100644
--- a/image_transport/include/image_transport/simple_publisher_plugin.hpp
+++ b/image_transport/include/image_transport/simple_publisher_plugin.hpp
@@ -30,7 +30,9 @@
 #define IMAGE_TRANSPORT__SIMPLE_PUBLISHER_PLUGIN_HPP_
 
 #include <memory>
+#include <stdexcept>
 #include <string>
+#include <utility>
 
 #include "rclcpp/node.hpp"
 #include "rclcpp/logger.hpp"
@@ -89,7 +91,20 @@ class SimplePublisherPlugin : public PublisherPlugin
       return;
     }
 
-    publish(message, bindInternalPublisher(simple_impl_->pub_.get()));
+    publish(message, simple_impl_->pub_);
+  }
+
+  void publishUniquePtr(sensor_msgs::msg::Image::UniquePtr message) const override
+  {
+    if (!simple_impl_ || !simple_impl_->pub_) {
+      auto logger = simple_impl_ ? simple_impl_->logger_ : rclcpp::get_logger("image_transport");
+      RCLCPP_ERROR(
+        logger,
+        "Call to publish() on an invalid image_transport::SimplePublisherPlugin");
+      return;
+    }
+
+    publish(std::move(message), simple_impl_->pub_);
   }
 
   void shutdown() override
@@ -112,20 +127,54 @@ class SimplePublisherPlugin : public PublisherPlugin
     simple_impl_->pub_ = node->create_publisher<M>(transport_topic, qos, options);
   }
 
+  typedef typename rclcpp::Publisher<M>::SharedPtr PublisherT;
+
   //! Generic function for publishing the internal message type.
   typedef std::function<void (const M &)> PublishFn;
 
   /**
-   * \brief Publish an image using the specified publish function. Must be implemented by
-   * the subclass.
+   * \brief Publish an image using the specified publish function.
+   *
+   * \deprecated Use publish(const sensor_msgs::msg::Image&, const PublisherT&) instead.
    *
    * The PublishFn publishes the transport-specific message type. This indirection allows
    * SimpleSubscriberPlugin to use this function for both normal broadcast publishing and
    * single subscriber publishing (in subscription callbacks).
    */
+  virtual void publish(
+    const sensor_msgs::msg::Image & /*message*/,
+    const PublishFn & /*publish_fn*/) const
+  {
+    throw std::logic_error(
+      "publish(const sensor_msgs::msg::Image&, const PublishFn&) is not implemented.");
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * \brief Publish an image using the specified publisher.
+   */
   virtual void publish(
     const sensor_msgs::msg::Image & message,
-    const PublishFn & publish_fn) const = 0;
+    const PublisherT & publisher) const
+  {
+    // Fallback to old, deprecated method
+    publish(message, bindInternalPublisher(publisher.get()));
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * \brief Publish an image using the specified publisher.
+   *
+   * This version of the function can be used to optimize cases where the Plugin can
+   * avoid doing copies of the data when having the ownership to the image message.
+   * Plugins that can take advantage of message ownership should overwrite this method
+   * along with supportsUniquePtrPub().
+   */
+  virtual void publish(
+    sensor_msgs::msg::Image::UniquePtr /*message*/,
+    const PublisherT & /*publisher*/) const
+  {
+    throw std::logic_error(
+      "publish(sensor_msgs::msg::Image::UniquePtr, const PublisherT&) is not implemented.");
+  }
 
   /**
    * \brief Return the communication topic name for a given base topic.
@@ -148,7 +197,7 @@ class SimplePublisherPlugin : public PublisherPlugin
 
     rclcpp::Node * node_;
     rclcpp::Logger logger_;
-    typename rclcpp::Publisher<M>::SharedPtr pub_;
+    PublisherT pub_;
   };
 
   std::unique_ptr<SimplePublisherPluginImpl> simple_impl_;
diff --git a/image_transport/src/camera_publisher.cpp b/image_transport/src/camera_publisher.cpp
index 7c1ae450..66c7d7f1 100644
--- a/image_transport/src/camera_publisher.cpp
+++ b/image_transport/src/camera_publisher.cpp
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 
 #include <memory>
 #include <string>
+#include <utility>
 
 #include "rclcpp/expand_topic_or_service_name.hpp"
 #include "rclcpp/logging.hpp"
@@ -124,7 +125,6 @@ void CameraPublisher::publish(
   const sensor_msgs::msg::CameraInfo & info) const
 {
   if (!impl_ || !impl_->isValid()) {
-    // TODO(ros2) Switch to RCUTILS_ASSERT when ros2/rcutils#112 is merged
     auto logger = impl_ ? impl_->logger_ : rclcpp::get_logger("image_transport");
     RCLCPP_FATAL(
       logger,
@@ -141,7 +141,6 @@ void CameraPublisher::publish(
   const sensor_msgs::msg::CameraInfo::ConstSharedPtr & info) const
 {
   if (!impl_ || !impl_->isValid()) {
-    // TODO(ros2) Switch to RCUTILS_ASSERT when ros2/rcutils#112 is merged
     auto logger = impl_ ? impl_->logger_ : rclcpp::get_logger("image_transport");
     RCLCPP_FATAL(
       logger,
@@ -153,12 +152,27 @@ void CameraPublisher::publish(
   impl_->info_pub_->publish(*info);
 }
 
+void CameraPublisher::publish(
+  sensor_msgs::msg::Image::UniquePtr image,
+  sensor_msgs::msg::CameraInfo::UniquePtr info) const
+{
+  if (!impl_ || !impl_->isValid()) {
+    auto logger = impl_ ? impl_->logger_ : rclcpp::get_logger("image_transport");
+    RCLCPP_FATAL(
+      logger,
+      "Call to publish() on an invalid image_transport::CameraPublisher");
+    return;
+  }
+
+  impl_->image_pub_.publish(std::move(image));
+  impl_->info_pub_->publish(std::move(info));
+}
+
 void CameraPublisher::publish(
   sensor_msgs::msg::Image & image, sensor_msgs::msg::CameraInfo & info,
   rclcpp::Time stamp) const
 {
   if (!impl_ || !impl_->isValid()) {
-    // TODO(ros2) Switch to RCUTILS_ASSERT when ros2/rcutils#112 is merged
     auto logger = impl_ ? impl_->logger_ : rclcpp::get_logger("image_transport");
     RCLCPP_FATAL(
       logger,
@@ -172,6 +186,25 @@ void CameraPublisher::publish(
   impl_->info_pub_->publish(info);
 }
 
+void CameraPublisher::publish(
+  sensor_msgs::msg::Image::UniquePtr image,
+  sensor_msgs::msg::CameraInfo::UniquePtr info,
+  rclcpp::Time stamp) const
+{
+  if (!impl_ || !impl_->isValid()) {
+    auto logger = impl_ ? impl_->logger_ : rclcpp::get_logger("image_transport");
+    RCLCPP_FATAL(
+      logger,
+      "Call to publish() on an invalid image_transport::CameraPublisher");
+    return;
+  }
+
+  image->header.stamp = stamp;
+  info->header.stamp = stamp;
+  impl_->image_pub_.publish(std::move(image));
+  impl_->info_pub_->publish(std::move(info));
+}
+
 void CameraPublisher::shutdown()
 {
   if (impl_) {
diff --git a/image_transport/src/publisher.cpp b/image_transport/src/publisher.cpp
index 0bed7b09..d467e54b 100644
--- a/image_transport/src/publisher.cpp
+++ b/image_transport/src/publisher.cpp
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 #include "image_transport/publisher.hpp"
 
 #include <memory>
+#include <optional>
 #include <set>
 #include <string>
 #include <utility>
@@ -202,6 +203,36 @@ void Publisher::publish(const sensor_msgs::msg::Image::ConstSharedPtr & message)
   }
 }
 
+void Publisher::publish(sensor_msgs::msg::Image::UniquePtr message) const
+{
+  if (!impl_ || !impl_->isValid()) {
+    auto logger = impl_ ? impl_->logger_ : rclcpp::get_logger("image_transport");
+    RCLCPP_FATAL(logger, "Call to publish() on an invalid image_transport::Publisher");
+    return;
+  }
+
+  std::vector<std::shared_ptr<PublisherPlugin>> pubs_take_reference;
+  std::optional<std::shared_ptr<PublisherPlugin>> pub_takes_ownership = std::nullopt;
+
+  for (const auto & pub : impl_->publishers_) {
+    if (pub->getNumSubscribers() > 0) {
+      if (pub->supportsUniquePtrPub() && !pub_takes_ownership.has_value()) {
+        pub_takes_ownership = pub;
+      } else {
+        pubs_take_reference.push_back(pub);
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  for (const auto & pub : pubs_take_reference) {
+    pub->publish(*message);
+  }
+
+  if (pub_takes_ownership.has_value()) {
+    pub_takes_ownership.value()->publishUniquePtr(std::move(message));
+  }
+}
+
 void Publisher::shutdown()
 {
   if (impl_) {