Role of temper conditions on the hydrogen embrittlement behavior of AA 7010

•Crack growth rates of the modified aged AA 7010 alloy was on par with over aged temper in 3.5 wt.% NaCl.•EAC resistant tempers of AA 7010 were not always immune to HE.•Hydrogen evolution due to anodic dissolution of grain boundary precipitates played a key role in the SCC/HE behavior. This paper reports an attempt to understand the influence of temper conditions on the hydrogen embrittlement (HE) behaviour of AA 7010. A novel heat treatment technique reported in this paper exhibited crack growth rates on par with over aged temper in 3.5 wt.% NaCl under freely corroding conditions (@OCP). Copper enrichment on the grain boundary precipitates curtailed the hydrogen evolution and enhanced the alloy resistance to hydrogen embrittlement (@OCP) for both the temper conditions.