diff --git a/kustomize/commands/build/build_benchmark_test.go b/kustomize/commands/build/build_benchmark_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..33a82f135b3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kustomize/commands/build/build_benchmark_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,157 @@
+// Copyright 2023 The Kubernetes Authors.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+package build_test
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"fmt"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"testing"
+
+	. "sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/kustomize/v5/commands/build"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/kyaml/filesys"
+)
+
+type GenConfig struct {
+	fileResources     int
+	resources         int
+	patches           int
+	namespaced        bool
+	namePrefix        string
+	nameSuffix        string
+	commonLabels      map[string]string
+	commonAnnotations map[string]string
+}
+
+var genConfig = []GenConfig{
+	{
+		resources:  4,
+		namePrefix: "foo-",
+		nameSuffix: "-bar",
+		commonLabels: map[string]string{
+			"foo": "bar",
+		},
+		commonAnnotations: map[string]string{
+			"baz": "blatti",
+		},
+	},
+	{
+		resources: 100,
+	},
+	{
+		resources: 3,
+	},
+	{
+		resources:     2,
+		namespaced:    true,
+		fileResources: 30,
+		patches:       10,
+	},
+	{
+		fileResources: 2,
+	},
+}
+
+func makeKustomization(fSys filesys.FileSystem, path, id string, depth int) error {
+	cfg := genConfig[depth]
+	fSys.MkdirAll(path)
+
+	var buf bytes.Buffer
+	if cfg.namespaced {
+		fmt.Fprintf(&buf, "namespace: %s\n", id)
+	}
+
+	if cfg.namePrefix != "" {
+		fmt.Fprintf(&buf, "namePrefix: %s\n", cfg.namePrefix)
+	}
+
+	if cfg.nameSuffix != "" {
+		fmt.Fprintf(&buf, "nameSuffix: %s\n", cfg.nameSuffix)
+	}
+
+	if len(cfg.commonLabels) > 0 {
+		fmt.Fprintf(&buf, "commonLabels:\n")
+		for k, v := range cfg.commonLabels {
+			fmt.Fprintf(&buf, "  %s: %s\n", k, v)
+		}
+	}
+
+	if len(cfg.commonAnnotations) > 0 {
+		fmt.Fprintf(&buf, "commonAnnotations:\n")
+		for k, v := range cfg.commonAnnotations {
+			fmt.Fprintf(&buf, "  %s: %s\n", k, v)
+		}
+	}
+
+	if cfg.fileResources > 0 || cfg.resources > 0 {
+		fmt.Fprintf(&buf, "resources:\n")
+		for res := 0; res < cfg.fileResources; res++ {
+			fn := fmt.Sprintf("res%d.yaml", res)
+			fmt.Fprintf(&buf, " - %v\n", fn)
+
+			buf := fmt.Sprintf(`kind: ConfigMap
+apiVersion: v1
+metadata:
+  name: %s-%d
+  labels:
+    foo: bar
+  annotations:
+    baz: blatti
+data:
+  k: v
+`, id, res)
+			fSys.WriteFile(filepath.Join(path, fn), []byte(buf))
+		}
+
+		for res := 0; res < cfg.resources; res++ {
+			fn := fmt.Sprintf("res%d", res)
+			fmt.Fprintf(&buf, " - %v\n", fn)
+			if err := makeKustomization(fSys, path+"/"+fn, fmt.Sprintf("%s-%d", id, res), depth+1); err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	if cfg.patches > 0 {
+		fmt.Fprintf(&buf, "patches:\n")
+		for res := 0; res < cfg.patches; res++ {
+			// alternate between json and yaml patches to test both kinds
+			if res%2 == 0 {
+				fn := fmt.Sprintf("patch%d.yaml", res)
+				fmt.Fprintf(&buf, " - path: %v\n", fn)
+				fSys.WriteFile(filepath.Join(path, fn), []byte(fmt.Sprintf(`kind: ConfigMap
+apiVersion: v1
+metadata:
+  name: %s-%d
+data:
+  k: v2
+`, id, res)))
+			} else {
+				fn := fmt.Sprintf("patch%d.json", res)
+				fmt.Fprintf(&buf, ` - path: %v
+   target:
+    version: v1
+    kind: ConfigMap
+    name: %s-%d
+`, fn, id, res-1)
+				fSys.WriteFile(filepath.Join(path, fn), []byte(`[{"op": "add", "path": "/data/k2", "value": "3"} ]`))
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	return fSys.WriteFile(filepath.Join(path, "kustomization.yaml"), buf.Bytes())
+}
+
+func BenchmarkBuild(b *testing.B) {
+	fSys := filesys.MakeFsInMemory()
+	if err := makeKustomization(fSys, "testdata", "res", 0); err != nil {
+		b.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	b.ResetTimer()
+	buffy := new(bytes.Buffer)
+	cmd := NewCmdBuild(fSys, MakeHelp("foo", "bar"), buffy)
+	if err := cmd.RunE(cmd, []string{"./testdata"}); err != nil {
+		b.Fatal(err)
+	}
+}