diff --git a/mlir/CMakeLists.txt b/mlir/CMakeLists.txt
--- a/mlir/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/mlir/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -188,3 +188,34 @@
 endif()
 
 add_subdirectory(cmake/modules)
+
+#==============================================================================
+# Build Google Benchmark
+#==============================================================================
+set(GOOGLE_BENCHMARK_TARGET_FLAGS ${BENCHMARK_DIALECT_FLAG})
+if (MLIR_BENCHMARK_GCC_TOOLCHAIN)
+  set(GOOGLE_BENCHMARK_TARGET_FLAGS
+          --gcc-toolchain=${MLIR_BENCHMARK_GCC_TOOLCHAIN})
+endif()
+string(REPLACE ";" " " GOOGLE_BENCHMARK_TARGET_FLAGS "${GOOGLE_BENCHMARK_TARGET_FLAGS}")
+
+ExternalProject_Add(google-benchmark
+        EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL ON
+        PREFIX google-benchmark
+        SOURCE_DIR ${MLIR_SOURCE_DIR}/../llvm/utils/benchmark
+        INSTALL_DIR ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/google-benchmark
+        CMAKE_CACHE_ARGS
+        -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS:BOOL=OFF
+        -DCMAKE_POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE:BOOL=ON
+        -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER:STRING=${CMAKE_C_COMPILER}
+        -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER:STRING=${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER}
+        -DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS:STRING=${GOOGLE_BENCHMARK_TARGET_FLAGS}
+        -DCMAKE_CXX_STANDARD:STRING=14
+        -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE:STRING=RELEASE
+        -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX:PATH=<INSTALL_DIR>
+        -DBENCHMARK_ENABLE_TESTING:BOOL=OFF)
+
+set(GOOGLE_BENCHMARK_MLIR_INSTALL ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/google-benchmark)
+set(GOOGLE_BENCHMARK_LINK_FLAGS -L${GOOGLE_BENCHMARK_MLIR_INSTALL}/lib/)
+
+add_subdirectory(benchmarks)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/mlir/benchmarks/CMakeLists.txt b/mlir/benchmarks/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mlir/benchmarks/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+set(LLVM_LINK_COMPONENTS
+  Support)
+
+add_benchmark(MLIRStarter MLIRStarter.cpp)
diff --git a/mlir/benchmarks/MLIRStarter.cpp b/mlir/benchmarks/MLIRStarter.cpp
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mlir/benchmarks/MLIRStarter.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+#include "benchmark/benchmark.h"
+
+static void BM_MLIRStarter(benchmark::State &state) {
+  std::string x = "hello";
+  for (auto _ : state) {
+    std::string copy(x);
+  }
+}
+BENCHMARK(BM_MLIRStarter);
+
+BENCHMARK_MAIN();