diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/BUILD b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/BUILD
index 2bf780bd6b5..6e9fd651154 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/BUILD
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/BUILD
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ go_test(
         "//vendor/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/apis/example/v1:go_default_library",
         "//vendor/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/request:go_default_library",
         "//vendor/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/registry/rest:go_default_library",
+        "//vendor/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/util/trace:go_default_library",
     ],
 )
 
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/patch.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/patch.go
index a54054127bf..00bebdd2d56 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/patch.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/patch.go
@@ -39,12 +39,17 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/negotiation"
 	"k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/request"
 	"k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/registry/rest"
+	utiltrace "k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/util/trace"
 )
 
 // PatchResource returns a function that will handle a resource patch
 // TODO: Eventually PatchResource should just use GuaranteedUpdate and this routine should be a bit cleaner
 func PatchResource(r rest.Patcher, scope RequestScope, admit admission.Interface, converter runtime.ObjectConvertor, patchTypes []string) http.HandlerFunc {
 	return func(w http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
+		// For performance tracking purposes.
+		trace := utiltrace.New("Patch " + req.URL.Path)
+		defer trace.LogIfLong(500 * time.Millisecond)
+
 		// Do this first, otherwise name extraction can fail for unrecognized content types
 		// TODO: handle this in negotiation
 		contentType := req.Header.Get("Content-Type")
@@ -88,6 +93,7 @@ func PatchResource(r rest.Patcher, scope RequestScope, admit admission.Interface
 
 		ae := request.AuditEventFrom(ctx)
 		audit.LogRequestPatch(ae, patchJS)
+		trace.Step("Recorded the audit event")
 
 		s, ok := runtime.SerializerInfoForMediaType(scope.Serializer.SupportedMediaTypes(), runtime.ContentTypeJSON)
 		if !ok {
@@ -119,11 +125,12 @@ func PatchResource(r rest.Patcher, scope RequestScope, admit admission.Interface
 			name,
 			patchType,
 			patchJS,
-			scope.Namer, scope.Creater, scope.Defaulter, scope.UnsafeConvertor, scope.Kind, scope.Resource, codec)
+			scope.Namer, scope.Creater, scope.Defaulter, scope.UnsafeConvertor, scope.Kind, scope.Resource, codec, trace)
 		if err != nil {
 			scope.err(err, w, req)
 			return
 		}
+		trace.Step("Object stored in database")
 
 		requestInfo, ok := request.RequestInfoFrom(ctx)
 		if !ok {
@@ -134,6 +141,7 @@ func PatchResource(r rest.Patcher, scope RequestScope, admit admission.Interface
 			scope.err(err, w, req)
 			return
 		}
+		trace.Step("Self-link added")
 
 		transformResponseObject(ctx, scope, req, w, http.StatusOK, result)
 	}
@@ -160,6 +168,7 @@ func patchResource(
 	kind schema.GroupVersionKind,
 	resource schema.GroupVersionResource,
 	codec runtime.Codec,
+	trace *utiltrace.Trace,
 ) (runtime.Object, error) {
 
 	namespace := request.NamespaceValue(ctx)
@@ -177,6 +186,7 @@ func patchResource(
 	// and is given the currently persisted object as input.
 	applyPatch := func(_ request.Context, _, currentObject runtime.Object) (runtime.Object, error) {
 		// Make sure we actually have a persisted currentObject
+		trace.Step("About to apply patch")
 		if hasUID, err := hasUID(currentObject); err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		} else if !hasUID {
@@ -360,6 +370,7 @@ func patchResource(
 	// applyAdmission is called every time GuaranteedUpdate asks for the updated object,
 	// and is given the currently persisted object and the patched object as input.
 	applyAdmission := func(ctx request.Context, patchedObject runtime.Object, currentObject runtime.Object) (runtime.Object, error) {
+		trace.Step("About to check admission control")
 		return patchedObject, updateMutation(patchedObject, currentObject)
 	}
 	updatedObjectInfo := rest.DefaultUpdatedObjectInfo(nil, applyPatch, applyAdmission)
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/rest_test.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/rest_test.go
index e6dc7b2cd03..d87d7700689 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/rest_test.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/rest_test.go
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ import (
 	examplev1 "k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/apis/example/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/request"
 	"k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/registry/rest"
+	utiltrace "k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/util/trace"
 )
 
 var (
@@ -347,7 +348,7 @@ func (tc *patchTestCase) Run(t *testing.T) {
 			name,
 			patchType,
 			patch,
-			namer, creater, defaulter, convertor, kind, resource, codec)
+			namer, creater, defaulter, convertor, kind, resource, codec, utiltrace.New("Patch"+name))
 		if len(tc.expectedError) != 0 {
 			if err == nil || err.Error() != tc.expectedError {
 				t.Errorf("%s: expected error %v, but got %v", tc.name, tc.expectedError, err)