diff --git a/rosbag2_transport/src/rosbag2_transport/locked_priority_queue.hpp b/rosbag2_transport/src/rosbag2_transport/locked_priority_queue.hpp
index 5bebb14f8..b3809ee4a 100644
--- a/rosbag2_transport/src/rosbag2_transport/locked_priority_queue.hpp
+++ b/rosbag2_transport/src/rosbag2_transport/locked_priority_queue.hpp
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 #define ROSBAG2_TRANSPORT__LOCKED_PRIORITY_QUEUE_HPP_
 
 #include <mutex>
+#include <optional>
 #include <queue>
 
 #include "rcpputils/thread_safety_annotations.hpp"
@@ -32,10 +33,8 @@ class LockedPriorityQueue
 public:
   /// \brief Constructor.
   /// \param compare the comparator object
-  /// \param empty_element the element to return when trying to take with an empty queue
-  LockedPriorityQueue(const Compare & compare, const T & empty_element)
-  : queue_(compare),
-    empty_element_{empty_element}
+  LockedPriorityQueue(const Compare & compare)
+  : queue_(compare)
   {}
 
   LockedPriorityQueue() = delete;
@@ -85,12 +84,12 @@ class LockedPriorityQueue
   }
 
   /// \brief Try to take the top element from the queue.
-  /// \return the top element, or `empty_element` if the queue is empty
-  T take()
+  /// \return the top element, or `std::nullopt` if the queue is empty
+  std::optional<T> take()
   {
     rcpputils::unique_lock<std::mutex> lk(queue_mutex_);
     if (queue_.empty()) {
-      return empty_element_;
+      return std::nullopt;
     }
     const T e = queue_.top();
     queue_.pop();
@@ -100,7 +99,6 @@ class LockedPriorityQueue
 private:
   mutable std::mutex queue_mutex_;
   std::priority_queue<T, Container, Compare> queue_ RCPPUTILS_TSA_GUARDED_BY(queue_mutex_);
-  const T empty_element_;
 };
 
 #endif  // ROSBAG2_TRANSPORT__LOCKED_PRIORITY_QUEUE_HPP_
diff --git a/rosbag2_transport/src/rosbag2_transport/player.cpp b/rosbag2_transport/src/rosbag2_transport/player.cpp
index 5b874897a..17dde0168 100644
--- a/rosbag2_transport/src/rosbag2_transport/player.cpp
+++ b/rosbag2_transport/src/rosbag2_transport/player.cpp
@@ -388,8 +388,7 @@ PlayerImpl::PlayerImpl(
 : input_bags_(std::move(input_bags)),
   owner_(owner),
   play_options_(play_options),
-  // Return empty shared_ptr when taking from an empty queue
-  message_queue_(BagMessageRecvTimestampComparator{}, nullptr),
+  message_queue_(BagMessageRecvTimestampComparator{}),
   keyboard_handler_(std::move(keyboard_handler)),
   player_service_client_manager_(std::make_shared<PlayerServiceClientManager>())
 {
@@ -698,7 +697,7 @@ rosbag2_storage::SerializedBagMessageSharedPtr PlayerImpl::take_next_message_fro
     std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::microseconds(100));
   }
   // Note: this only returns nullptr if no more messages
-  return message_queue_.take();
+  return message_queue_.take().value_or(nullptr);
 }
 
 bool PlayerImpl::play_next()