diff --git a/projects/rocshmem/docs/api/ctx.rst b/projects/rocshmem/docs/api/ctx.rst
index b9aa2dd52f..a32c823482 100644
--- a/projects/rocshmem/docs/api/ctx.rst
+++ b/projects/rocshmem/docs/api/ctx.rst
@@ -16,15 +16,19 @@ ROCSHMEM_CTX_CREATE
 
   :param team:    Team handle to derive the context from.
   :param options: Options for context creation. Ignored in current design; use the value ``0``.
-  :param ctx:     Context handle.
+  :param ctx:     A handle to the newly created context.
 
   :returns:       All threads returns ``0`` if the context was created successfully.
-                  If any thread returns non-zero value, the operation fails and a higher number of
-                  ``ROCSHMEM_MAX_NUM_CONTEXTS`` is required.
+                  If any thread returns non-zero value, the operation fails, ctx is set to ``ROCSHMEM_CTX_INVALID`` and a
+                  higher number of ``ROCSHMEM_MAX_NUM_CONTEXTS`` is required.
 
 **Description:**
-This routine creates an OpenSHMEM context. By design, the context is private to the calling work-group.
-It must be called collectively by all threads in the work-group.
+This routine creates an rocSHMEM context. By design, the context is private to the calling work-group.
+It must be called collectively by all threads in the work-group. If the context was created successfully, a value
+of zero is returned and the context handle pointed to by ctx specifies a valid context; otherwise, a nonzero value
+is returned and ctx is set to ``ROCSHMEM_CTX_INVALID``. An unsuccessful context creation call is not treated as an
+error and the rocSHMEM library remains in a correct state. The creation call can be reattempted after additional
+resources become available.
 
 ROCSHMEM_CTX_DESTROY
 --------------------
@@ -36,8 +40,8 @@ ROCSHMEM_CTX_DESTROY
   :returns:       None.
 
 **Description:**
-This routine destroys an rocSHMEM context.
-It must be called collectively by all threads in the work-group.
+This routine destroys an rocSHMEM context. It must be called collectively by all threads in the work-group.
+If ctx has the value ``ROCSHMEM_CTX_INVALID``, no operation is performed.
 
 ROCSHMEM_GET_DEVICE_CTX
 -----------------------
diff --git a/projects/rocshmem/include/rocshmem/rocshmem_common.hpp b/projects/rocshmem/include/rocshmem/rocshmem_common.hpp
index 288aa98292..2795aa1dfc 100644
--- a/projects/rocshmem/include/rocshmem/rocshmem_common.hpp
+++ b/projects/rocshmem/include/rocshmem/rocshmem_common.hpp
@@ -106,9 +106,18 @@ const int ROCSHMEM_CTX_SHARED = 8;
  * @brief GPU side OpenSHMEM context created from each work-groups'
  * rocshmem_wg_handle_t
  */
-typedef struct {
+typedef struct rocshmem_ctx{
   void *ctx_opaque;
   void *team_opaque;
+
+  __host__ __device__ bool operator==(const struct rocshmem_ctx& other) const {
+    return (ctx_opaque == other.ctx_opaque &&
+            team_opaque == other.team_opaque);
+  }
+
+  __host__ __device__ bool operator!=(const struct rocshmem_ctx& other) const {
+    return !(*this == other);
+  }
 } rocshmem_ctx_t;
 
 /**
@@ -116,6 +125,14 @@ typedef struct {
  */
 extern "C" __device__  rocshmem_ctx_t __attribute__((visibility("default"))) ROCSHMEM_CTX_DEFAULT;
 
+/**
+ * A value corresponding to an invalid communication context. This value can be
+ * used to initialize or update context handles to indicate that they do not
+ * reference a valid context. When managed in this way, applications can use an
+ * equality comparison to test whether a given context handle references a
+ * valid context.
+ */
+extern __constant__ rocshmem_ctx_t ROCSHMEM_CTX_INVALID;
 /**
  * Used internally to set default context.
  */
diff --git a/projects/rocshmem/src/rocshmem_gpu.cpp b/projects/rocshmem/src/rocshmem_gpu.cpp
index a7cbe47d08..b0eea85859 100644
--- a/projects/rocshmem/src/rocshmem_gpu.cpp
+++ b/projects/rocshmem/src/rocshmem_gpu.cpp
@@ -74,6 +74,8 @@ __device__  rocshmem_ctx_t __attribute__((visibility("default"))) ROCSHMEM_CTX_D
 
 __constant__ Backend *device_backend_proxy;
 
+__constant__ rocshmem_ctx_t ROCSHMEM_CTX_INVALID = {nullptr, nullptr};
+
 #if defined(ENABLE_IPC_BITCODE)
   typedef IPCContext ContextTy;
 #else
@@ -324,6 +326,9 @@ __device__ int rocshmem_wg_ctx_create(long options, rocshmem_ctx_t *ctx) {
     if(result) {
       reinterpret_cast<Context *>(ctx->ctx_opaque)->setFence(options);
     }
+    else {
+      *ctx = ROCSHMEM_CTX_INVALID;
+    }
   }
   __syncthreads();
   return result == true ? 0 : -1;
@@ -346,6 +351,9 @@ __device__ int rocshmem_wg_team_create_ctx(rocshmem_team_t team, long options,
     if(result) {
       reinterpret_cast<Context *>(ctx->ctx_opaque)->setFence(options);
     }
+    else {
+      *ctx = ROCSHMEM_CTX_INVALID;
+    }
   }
   __syncthreads();
 
@@ -357,7 +365,7 @@ __device__ void rocshmem_wg_ctx_destroy(
   GPU_DPRINTF("Function: rocshmem_wg_ctx_destroy (ctx=%zd)\n",
     ctx->ctx_opaque);
 
-  if (get_flat_block_id() == 0) {
+  if (get_flat_block_id() == 0 && *ctx != ROCSHMEM_CTX_INVALID) {
     device_backend_proxy->destroy_ctx(ctx);
   }
 }