diff --git a/rmw/CMakeLists.txt b/rmw/CMakeLists.txt
index 2d914e10..9873ec28 100644
--- a/rmw/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/rmw/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -64,6 +64,9 @@ ament_export_targets(${PROJECT_NAME})
 if(BUILD_TESTING)
   find_package(ament_lint_auto REQUIRED)
   ament_lint_auto_find_test_dependencies()
+  # pass extra include dirs to cppcheck explicitly
+  list(APPEND AMENT_LINT_AUTO_EXCLUDE ament_cmake_cppcheck)
+  ament_cppcheck(INCLUDE_DIRS ${rcutils_INCLUDE_DIRS})
 
   add_subdirectory(test)
 endif()
diff --git a/rmw/include/rmw/rmw.h b/rmw/include/rmw/rmw.h
index adf590de..cd6100cc 100644
--- a/rmw/include/rmw/rmw.h
+++ b/rmw/include/rmw/rmw.h
@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@ extern "C"
 #include <stddef.h>
 #include <stdint.h>
 
+#include "rcutils/macros.h"
 #include "rcutils/types.h"
 
 #include "rosidl_runtime_c/message_type_support_struct.h"
@@ -198,27 +199,11 @@ RMW_WARN_UNUSED
 rmw_ret_t
 rmw_destroy_node(rmw_node_t * node);
 
-/// Manually assert that this node is alive (for RMW_QOS_POLICY_LIVELINESS_MANUAL_BY_NODE)
-/**
- * If the rmw Liveliness policy is set to RMW_QOS_POLICY_LIVELINESS_MANUAL_BY_NODE, the creator of
- * this node may manually call `assert_liveliness` at some point in time to signal to the rest
- * of the system that this Node is still alive.
- *
- * <hr>
- * Attribute          | Adherence
- * ------------------ | -------------
- * Allocates Memory   | No
- * Thread-Safe        | Yes
- * Uses Atomics       | No
- * Lock-Free          | Yes
- *
- * \param[in] node handle to the node that needs liveliness to be asserted
- * \return `RMW_RET_OK` if the liveliness assertion was completed successfully, or
- * \return `RMW_RET_ERROR` if an unspecified error occurs, or
- * \return `RMW_RET_UNSUPPORTED` if the rmw implementation does not support asserting liveliness.
- */
+
 RMW_PUBLIC
-RMW_WARN_UNUSED
+RCUTILS_DEPRECATED_WITH_MSG(
+  "rmw_node_assert_liveliness implementation was removed."
+  " If manual liveliness assertion is needed, use MANUAL_BY_TOPIC.")
 rmw_ret_t
 rmw_node_assert_liveliness(const rmw_node_t * node);
 
diff --git a/rmw/include/rmw/types.h b/rmw/include/rmw/types.h
index 63f81a29..03afe07d 100644
--- a/rmw/include/rmw/types.h
+++ b/rmw/include/rmw/types.h
@@ -384,26 +384,41 @@ enum RMW_PUBLIC_TYPE rmw_qos_durability_policy_t
   RMW_QOS_POLICY_DURABILITY_UNKNOWN
 };
 
+#define RMW_QOS_POLICY_LIVELINESS_MANUAL_BY_NODE_DEPRECATED_MSG \
+  "RMW_QOS_POLICY_LIVELINESS_MANUAL_BY_NODE is deprecated. " \
+  "Use RMW_QOS_POLICY_LIVELINESS_MANUAL_BY_TOPIC if manually asserted liveliness is needed."
+
+#ifndef _WIN32
+# define RMW_DECLARE_DEPRECATED(name, msg) name __attribute__((deprecated(msg)))
+#else
+# define RMW_DECLARE_DEPRECATED(name, msg) name __pragma(deprecated(name))
+#endif
+
 /// QoS liveliness enumerations that describe a publisher's reporting policy for its alive status.
 /// For a subscriber, these are its requirements for its topic's publishers.
 enum RMW_PUBLIC_TYPE rmw_qos_liveliness_policy_t
 {
   /// Implementation specific default
-  RMW_QOS_POLICY_LIVELINESS_SYSTEM_DEFAULT,
+  RMW_QOS_POLICY_LIVELINESS_SYSTEM_DEFAULT = 0,
 
   /// The signal that establishes a Topic is alive comes from the ROS rmw layer.
-  RMW_QOS_POLICY_LIVELINESS_AUTOMATIC,
+  RMW_QOS_POLICY_LIVELINESS_AUTOMATIC = 1,
 
-  /// The signal that establishes a Topic is alive is manually reported by the node
-  RMW_QOS_POLICY_LIVELINESS_MANUAL_BY_NODE,
+  /// Explicitly asserting node liveliness is required in this case.
+  /// This option is deprecated, use RMW_QOS_POLICY_LIVELINESS_MANUAL_BY_TOPIC if your application
+  /// requires to assert liveliness manually.
+  RMW_DECLARE_DEPRECATED(
+    RMW_QOS_POLICY_LIVELINESS_MANUAL_BY_NODE,
+    RMW_QOS_POLICY_LIVELINESS_MANUAL_BY_NODE_DEPRECATED_MSG) = 2,
 
   /// The signal that establishes a Topic is alive is at the Topic level. Only publishing a message
   /// on the Topic or an explicit signal from the application to assert liveliness on the Topic
   /// will mark the Topic as being alive.
-  RMW_QOS_POLICY_LIVELINESS_MANUAL_BY_TOPIC,
+  // Using `3` for backwards compatibility.
+  RMW_QOS_POLICY_LIVELINESS_MANUAL_BY_TOPIC = 3,
 
   /// Liveliness policy has not yet been set
-  RMW_QOS_POLICY_LIVELINESS_UNKNOWN
+  RMW_QOS_POLICY_LIVELINESS_UNKNOWN = 4
 };
 
 /// QoS Deadline default, 0s indicates deadline policies are not tracked or enforced
diff --git a/rmw/test/test_topic_endpoint_info.cpp b/rmw/test/test_topic_endpoint_info.cpp
index e69bc623..6d0aeece 100644
--- a/rmw/test/test_topic_endpoint_info.cpp
+++ b/rmw/test/test_topic_endpoint_info.cpp
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ TEST(test_topic_endpoint_info, set_qos_profile) {
   qos_profile.durability = RMW_QOS_POLICY_DURABILITY_VOLATILE;
   qos_profile.deadline = {1, 0};
   qos_profile.lifespan = {2, 0};
-  qos_profile.liveliness = RMW_QOS_POLICY_LIVELINESS_MANUAL_BY_NODE;
+  qos_profile.liveliness = RMW_QOS_POLICY_LIVELINESS_MANUAL_BY_TOPIC;
   qos_profile.liveliness_lease_duration = {3, 0};
   qos_profile.avoid_ros_namespace_conventions = false;
 
@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ TEST(test_topic_endpoint_info, set_qos_profile) {
   EXPECT_EQ(topic_endpoint_info.qos_profile.lifespan.nsec, 0u) << "Unequal lifespan nsec";
   EXPECT_EQ(
     topic_endpoint_info.qos_profile.liveliness,
-    RMW_QOS_POLICY_LIVELINESS_MANUAL_BY_NODE) << "Unequal liveliness";
+    RMW_QOS_POLICY_LIVELINESS_MANUAL_BY_TOPIC) << "Unequal liveliness";
   EXPECT_EQ(
     topic_endpoint_info.qos_profile.liveliness_lease_duration.sec,
     3u) << "Unequal liveliness lease duration sec";
@@ -231,7 +231,7 @@ TEST(test_topic_endpoint_info, fini) {
   qos_profile.durability = RMW_QOS_POLICY_DURABILITY_VOLATILE;
   qos_profile.deadline = {1, 0};
   qos_profile.lifespan = {2, 0};
-  qos_profile.liveliness = RMW_QOS_POLICY_LIVELINESS_MANUAL_BY_NODE;
+  qos_profile.liveliness = RMW_QOS_POLICY_LIVELINESS_MANUAL_BY_TOPIC;
   qos_profile.liveliness_lease_duration = {3, 0};
   qos_profile.avoid_ros_namespace_conventions = false;
   rmw_ret_t ret = rmw_topic_endpoint_info_set_qos_profile(&topic_endpoint_info, &qos_profile);