diff --git a/docs/source/backends/adios2.rst b/docs/source/backends/adios2.rst
index de6b47aaad..13e357022c 100644
--- a/docs/source/backends/adios2.rst
+++ b/docs/source/backends/adios2.rst
@@ -105,6 +105,11 @@ The default behavior may be restored by setting the :ref:`JSON parameter <backen
 Best Practice at Large Scale
 ----------------------------
 
+ADIOS2 distinguishes between "heavy" data of arbitrary size (i.e. the "actual" data) and lightweight metadata.
+
+Heavy I/O
+.........
+
 A benefitial configuration depends heavily on:
 
 1. Hardware: filesystem type, specific file striping, network infrastructure and available RAM on the aggregator nodes.
@@ -135,6 +140,24 @@ The preferred backend usually depends on the system's native software stack.
 For fine-tuning at extreme scale or for exotic systems, please refer to the ADIOS2 manual and talk to your filesystem admins and the ADIOS2 authors.
 Be aware that extreme-scale I/O is a research topic after all.
 
+Metadata
+........
+
+ADIOS2 will implicitly aggregate metadata specified from parallel MPI processes.
+Duplicate specification of metadata is eliminated in this process.
+Unlike in HDF5, specifying metadata collectively is not required and is even detrimental to performance.
+The :ref:`JSON/TOML key <backendconfig>` ``adios2.attribute_writing_ranks`` can be used to restrict attribute writing to only a select handful of ranks (most typically a single one).
+The ADIOS2 backend of the openPMD-api will then ignore attributes from all other MPI ranks.
+
+.. tip::
+
+  Treat metadata specification as a collective operation in order to retain compatibility with HDF5, and then specify ``adios2.attribute_writing_ranks = 0`` in order to achieve best performance in ADIOS2.
+
+.. warning::
+
+  The ADIOS2 backend may also use attributes to encode openPMD groups (ref. "group table").
+  The ``adios2.attribute_writing_ranks`` key also applies to those attributes, i.e. also group creation must be treated as collective then (at least on the specified ranks).
+
 Experimental group table feature
 --------------------------------
 
diff --git a/docs/source/details/adios2.json b/docs/source/details/adios2.json
index d71061c0bc..c817eb0d7a 100644
--- a/docs/source/details/adios2.json
+++ b/docs/source/details/adios2.json
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
   "adios2": {
     "engine": {
       "type": "sst",
+      "preferred_flush_target": "disk",
       "parameters": {
         "BufferGrowthFactor": "2.0",
         "QueueLimit": "2"
@@ -17,6 +18,7 @@
           }
         }
       ]
-    }
+    },
+    "attribute_writing_ranks": 0
   }
 }
diff --git a/docs/source/details/adios2.toml b/docs/source/details/adios2.toml
index 863a5021fa..20ef9e827f 100644
--- a/docs/source/details/adios2.toml
+++ b/docs/source/details/adios2.toml
@@ -1,5 +1,12 @@
+[adios2]
+# ignore all attribute writes not issued on these ranks
+# can also be a list if multiple ranks need to be given
+# however rank 0 should be the most common option here
+attribute_writing_ranks = 0
+
 [adios2.engine]
 type = "sst"
+preferred_flush_target = "disk"
 
 [adios2.engine.parameters]
 BufferGrowthFactor = "2.0"
diff --git a/docs/source/details/backendconfig.rst b/docs/source/details/backendconfig.rst
index f1c47c78bd..57d577af10 100644
--- a/docs/source/details/backendconfig.rst
+++ b/docs/source/details/backendconfig.rst
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ A full configuration of the ADIOS2 backend:
 .. literalinclude:: adios2.toml
    :language: toml
 
-All keys found under ``adios2.dataset`` are applicable globally as well as per dataset, keys found under ``adios2.engine`` only globally.
+All keys found under ``adios2.dataset`` are applicable globally as well as per dataset, any other keys such as those found under ``adios2.engine`` only globally.
 Explanation of the single keys:
 
 * ``adios2.engine.type``: A string that is passed directly to ``adios2::IO:::SetEngine`` for choosing the ADIOS2 engine to be used.
@@ -142,6 +142,11 @@ Explanation of the single keys:
   The openPMD-api will automatically use a fallback implementation for the span-based Put() API if any operator is added to a dataset.
   This workaround is enabled on a per-dataset level.
   The workaround can be completely deactivated by specifying ``{"adios2": {"use_span_based_put": true}}`` or it can alternatively be activated indiscriminately for all datasets by specifying ``{"adios2": {"use_span_based_put": false}}``.
+* ``adios2.attribute_writing_ranks``: A list of MPI ranks that define metadata. ADIOS2 attributes will be written only from those ranks, any other ranks will be ignored. Can be either a list of integers or a single integer.
+
+.. hint::
+
+  Specifying ``adios2.attribute_writing_ranks`` can lead to serious serialization performance improvements at large scale.
 
 Operations specified inside ``adios2.dataset.operators`` will be applied to ADIOS2 datasets in writing as well as in reading.
 Beginning with ADIOS2 2.8.0, this can be used to specify decompressor settings:
diff --git a/docs/source/details/mpi.rst b/docs/source/details/mpi.rst
index b94e886fac..ea4ec0551e 100644
--- a/docs/source/details/mpi.rst
+++ b/docs/source/details/mpi.rst
@@ -42,6 +42,8 @@ Functionality                Behavior           Description
        If you want to support all backends equally, treat as a collective operation.
        Note that openPMD represents constant record components with attributes, thus inheriting this for ``::makeConstant``.
 
+       When treating attribute definitions as collective, we advise specifying the ADIOS2 :ref:`JSON/TOML key <backendconfig>` ``adios2.attribute_writing_ranks`` for metadata aggregation scalabilty, typically as ``adios2.attribute_writing_ranks = 0``.
+
 .. [4] We usually open iterations delayed on first access. This first access is usually the ``flush()`` call after a ``storeChunk``/``loadChunk`` operation. If the first access is non-collective, an explicit, collective ``Iteration::open()`` can be used to have the files already open.
        Alternatively, iterations might be accessed for the first time by immediate operations such as ``::availableChunks()``.
 
diff --git a/include/openPMD/IO/ADIOS/ADIOS2IOHandler.hpp b/include/openPMD/IO/ADIOS/ADIOS2IOHandler.hpp
index e63c6a493b..cdd7983312 100644
--- a/include/openPMD/IO/ADIOS/ADIOS2IOHandler.hpp
+++ b/include/openPMD/IO/ADIOS/ADIOS2IOHandler.hpp
@@ -274,6 +274,8 @@ class ADIOS2IOHandlerImpl
         return m_useGroupTable.value();
     }
 
+    bool m_writeAttributesFromThisRank = true;
+
     struct ParameterizedOperator
     {
         adios2::Operator op;
@@ -285,7 +287,9 @@ class ADIOS2IOHandlerImpl
     json::TracingJSON m_config;
     static json::TracingJSON nullvalue;
 
-    void init(json::TracingJSON config);
+    template <typename Callback>
+    void
+    init(json::TracingJSON config, Callback &&callbackWriteAttributesFromRank);
 
     template <typename Key>
     json::TracingJSON config(Key &&key, json::TracingJSON &cfg)
diff --git a/src/IO/ADIOS/ADIOS2IOHandler.cpp b/src/IO/ADIOS/ADIOS2IOHandler.cpp
index 8cddd578a0..534e364f53 100644
--- a/src/IO/ADIOS/ADIOS2IOHandler.cpp
+++ b/src/IO/ADIOS/ADIOS2IOHandler.cpp
@@ -79,7 +79,43 @@ ADIOS2IOHandlerImpl::ADIOS2IOHandlerImpl(
     , m_engineType(std::move(engineType))
     , m_userSpecifiedExtension{std::move(specifiedExtension)}
 {
-    init(std::move(cfg));
+    init(
+        std::move(cfg),
+        /* callbackWriteAttributesFromRank = */
+        [communicator, this](nlohmann::json const &attribute_writing_ranks) {
+            int rank = 0;
+            MPI_Comm_rank(communicator, &rank);
+            auto throw_error = []() {
+                throw error::BackendConfigSchema(
+                    {"adios2", "attribute_writing_ranks"},
+                    "Type must be either an integer or an array of integers.");
+            };
+            if (attribute_writing_ranks.is_array())
+            {
+                m_writeAttributesFromThisRank = false;
+                for (auto const &val : attribute_writing_ranks)
+                {
+                    if (!val.is_number())
+                    {
+                        throw_error();
+                    }
+                    if (val.get<int>() == rank)
+                    {
+                        m_writeAttributesFromThisRank = true;
+                        break;
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+            else if (attribute_writing_ranks.is_number())
+            {
+                m_writeAttributesFromThisRank =
+                    attribute_writing_ranks.get<int>() == rank;
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                throw_error();
+            }
+        });
 }
 
 #endif // openPMD_HAVE_MPI
@@ -94,7 +130,7 @@ ADIOS2IOHandlerImpl::ADIOS2IOHandlerImpl(
     , m_engineType(std::move(engineType))
     , m_userSpecifiedExtension(std::move(specifiedExtension))
 {
-    init(std::move(cfg));
+    init(std::move(cfg), [](auto const &...) {});
 }
 
 ADIOS2IOHandlerImpl::~ADIOS2IOHandlerImpl()
@@ -135,7 +171,9 @@ ADIOS2IOHandlerImpl::~ADIOS2IOHandlerImpl()
     }
 }
 
-void ADIOS2IOHandlerImpl::init(json::TracingJSON cfg)
+template <typename Callback>
+void ADIOS2IOHandlerImpl::init(
+    json::TracingJSON cfg, Callback &&callbackWriteAttributesFromRank)
 {
     // allow overriding through environment variable
     m_engineType =
@@ -181,6 +219,12 @@ void ADIOS2IOHandlerImpl::init(json::TracingJSON cfg)
                 : ModifiableAttributes::No;
         }
 
+        if (m_config.json().contains("attribute_writing_ranks"))
+        {
+            callbackWriteAttributesFromRank(
+                m_config["attribute_writing_ranks"].json());
+        }
+
         auto engineConfig = config(ADIOS2Defaults::str_engine);
         if (!engineConfig.json().is_null())
         {
@@ -915,6 +959,10 @@ void ADIOS2IOHandlerImpl::writeDataset(
 void ADIOS2IOHandlerImpl::writeAttribute(
     Writable *writable, const Parameter<Operation::WRITE_ATT> &parameters)
 {
+    if (!m_writeAttributesFromThisRank)
+    {
+        return;
+    }
 #if openPMD_HAS_ADIOS_2_9
     switch (useGroupTable())
     {
@@ -3033,7 +3081,11 @@ namespace detail
         if (!initializedDefaults)
         {
             // Currently only schema 0 supported
-            m_IO.DefineAttribute<uint64_t>(ADIOS2Defaults::str_adios2Schema, 0);
+            if (m_impl->m_writeAttributesFromThisRank)
+            {
+                m_IO.DefineAttribute<uint64_t>(
+                    ADIOS2Defaults::str_adios2Schema, 0);
+            }
             initializedDefaults = true;
         }
 
@@ -3168,7 +3220,8 @@ namespace detail
         {
             if (writeOnly(m_mode) &&
                 !m_IO.InquireAttribute<bool_representation>(
-                    ADIOS2Defaults::str_usesstepsAttribute))
+                    ADIOS2Defaults::str_usesstepsAttribute) &&
+                m_impl->m_writeAttributesFromThisRank)
             {
                 m_IO.DefineAttribute<bool_representation>(
                     ADIOS2Defaults::str_usesstepsAttribute, 0);
@@ -3189,7 +3242,8 @@ namespace detail
          */
         if (calledExplicitly && writeOnly(m_mode) &&
             !m_IO.InquireAttribute<bool_representation>(
-                ADIOS2Defaults::str_usesstepsAttribute))
+                ADIOS2Defaults::str_usesstepsAttribute) &&
+            m_impl->m_writeAttributesFromThisRank)
         {
             m_IO.DefineAttribute<bool_representation>(
                 ADIOS2Defaults::str_usesstepsAttribute, 1);
@@ -3356,7 +3410,7 @@ namespace detail
         case UseGroupTable::Yes:
 #if openPMD_HAS_ADIOS_2_9
         {
-            if (writeOnly(m_mode))
+            if (writeOnly(m_mode) && m_impl->m_writeAttributesFromThisRank)
             {
                 requireActiveStep();
                 auto currentStepBuffered = currentStep();
diff --git a/test/ParallelIOTest.cpp b/test/ParallelIOTest.cpp
index eb9765375a..ce7d6cc565 100644
--- a/test/ParallelIOTest.cpp
+++ b/test/ParallelIOTest.cpp
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 /* Running this test in parallel with MPI requires MPI::Init.
  * To guarantee a correct call to Init, launch the tests manually.
  */
+#include "openPMD/IO/ADIOS/macros.hpp"
 #include "openPMD/auxiliary/Environment.hpp"
 #include "openPMD/auxiliary/Filesystem.hpp"
 #include "openPMD/openPMD.hpp"
@@ -1170,10 +1171,16 @@ clevel = "1"
 doshuffle = "BLOSC_BITSHUFFLE"
 )END";
 
-    std::string writeConfigBP4 = R"END(
+    std::string writeConfigBP4 =
+        R"END(
 [adios2]
 unused = "parameter"
-
+attribute_writing_ranks = 0
+)END"
+#if openPMD_HAS_ADIOS_2_9
+        "use_group_table = true"
+#endif
+        R"END(
 [adios2.engine]
 type = "bp4"
 unused = "as well"