diff --git a/node-graph/libraries/core-types/src/record.rs b/node-graph/libraries/core-types/src/record.rs
index d5a7744ae5..5c1687380b 100644
--- a/node-graph/libraries/core-types/src/record.rs
+++ b/node-graph/libraries/core-types/src/record.rs
@@ -318,6 +318,25 @@ impl<A: attribute::Attribute> FieldOffset<A> {
 	}
 }
 
+/// Reads a declared attribute out of a record at a wiring-resolved offset,
+/// falling back to the marker's census default where the layout does not carry
+/// the name.
+///
+/// # Safety
+/// `rec` must be a live record of the layout `offset` was resolved against,
+/// and `offset`, where present, must be that layout's offset for `A` at the
+/// read's level. The census admits one value type per attribute name and
+/// panics on a conflicting declaration, so that field's bytes are a value of
+/// `A::Value`, differing from the read type only in `'e`, which must not
+/// outlive the evaluation a parked payload is arena-resident for.
+pub unsafe fn read_at<'e, A: attribute::Attribute>(rec: Rec<'_>, offset: Option<usize>) -> attribute::Attr<'e, A> {
+	attribute::Attr(match offset {
+		// SAFETY: the caller's contract.
+		Some(offset) => unsafe { rec.read::<A::Value<'e>>(offset) },
+		None => A::default(),
+	})
+}
+
 /// The stand-in fed to a kernel's unbounded `element: T` parameter. The type
 /// system forces the kernel to route it to the element position of its return
 /// tuple, so the passthrough is explicit in the signature while the lowering
diff --git a/node-graph/node-macro/src/codegen.rs b/node-graph/node-macro/src/codegen.rs
index ccc7dacb14..ab0e506986 100644
--- a/node-graph/node-macro/src/codegen.rs
+++ b/node-graph/node-macro/src/codegen.rs
@@ -1243,10 +1243,7 @@ pub(crate) fn generate_node_impl(crate_ident: &CrateIdent, parsed: &ParsedNodeFn
 		let marker = &read.marker;
 		let slot = format_ident!("__read_{slot}");
 		quote! {
-			let #pat = #core_types::attribute::Attr::<#marker>(match self.#slot {
-				Some(__offset) => unsafe { #rec.read(__offset) },
-				None => <#marker as #core_types::attribute::Attribute>::default(),
-			});
+			let #pat = unsafe { #core_types::record::read_at::<#marker>(#rec, self.#slot) };
 		}
 	};
 	let reads_of = |field_index: usize| {
@@ -2705,12 +2702,7 @@ pub(crate) fn generate_node_impl(crate_ident: &CrateIdent, parsed: &ParsedNodeFn
 				.collect();
 			let attr_slots = field.attribute_reads.iter().enumerate().map(|(slot, read)| {
 				let marker = &read.marker;
-				quote! {
-					#core_types::attribute::Attr::<#marker>(match __reads[#slot] {
-						Some(__offset) => unsafe { __rec.read(__offset) },
-						None => <#marker as #core_types::attribute::Attribute>::default(),
-					})
-				}
+				quote!(unsafe { #core_types::record::read_at::<#marker>(__rec, __reads[#slot]) })
 			});
 			let attr_tys = field.attribute_reads.iter().map(|read| {
 				let marker = &read.marker;