diff --git a/api/internal/target/kusttarget.go b/api/internal/target/kusttarget.go
index 257d08922..766351951 100644
--- a/api/internal/target/kusttarget.go
+++ b/api/internal/target/kusttarget.go
@@ -294,7 +294,7 @@ func (kt *KustTarget) accumulateDirectory(
 	}
 
 	var subRa *accumulator.ResAccumulator
-	if subKt.kustomization.Kind == types.KustomizationPatchKind {
+	if subKt.kustomization.Kind == types.ComponentKind {
 		subRa, err = subKt.accumulateTarget(ra)
 		ra = accumulator.MakeEmptyAccumulator()
 	} else {
diff --git a/api/krusty/kustomizationpatch_test.go b/api/krusty/component_test.go
similarity index 80%
rename from api/krusty/kustomizationpatch_test.go
rename to api/krusty/component_test.go
index 362115b40..28ae4fc58 100644
--- a/api/krusty/kustomizationpatch_test.go
+++ b/api/krusty/component_test.go
@@ -9,8 +9,8 @@ import (
 	kusttest_test "sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/api/testutils/kusttest"
 )
 
-// Test kustomization.yaml files with  kind: KustomizationPatch
-func writeKustomizationPatchBase(th kusttest_test.Harness) {
+// Test kustomization.yaml files with  kind: Component
+func writeComponentBase(th kusttest_test.Harness) {
 	th.WriteK("/app/base", `
 resources:
 - deploy.yaml
@@ -30,10 +30,10 @@ spec:
 `)
 }
 
-func writeKustomizationPatchPatch(th kusttest_test.Harness) {
+func writeComponentPatch(th kusttest_test.Harness) {
 	th.WriteF("/app/patch/kustomization.yaml", `
 apiVersion: kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1
-kind: KustomizationPatch
+kind: Component
 namePrefix: patched-
 replicas:
 - name: storefront
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ spec:
 `)
 }
 
-func writeKustomizationPatchProd(th kusttest_test.Harness) {
+func writeComponentProd(th kusttest_test.Harness) {
 	th.WriteK("/app/prod", `
 resources:
 - ../base
@@ -74,13 +74,13 @@ spec:
 `)
 }
 
-// KustomizationPatch are inserted into the resource hierarchy as the parent of those
+// Components are inserted into the resource hierarchy as the parent of those
 // resources that come before it in the resources list of the parent Kustomization.
-func TestBasicKustomizationPatch(t *testing.T) {
+func TestBasicComponent(t *testing.T) {
 	th := kusttest_test.MakeHarness(t)
-	writeKustomizationPatchBase(th)
-	writeKustomizationPatchPatch(th)
-	writeKustomizationPatchProd(th)
+	writeComponentBase(th)
+	writeComponentPatch(th)
+	writeComponentProd(th)
 	m := th.Run("/app/prod", th.MakeDefaultOptions())
 	th.AssertActualEqualsExpected(m, `
 apiVersion: v1
@@ -117,14 +117,14 @@ spec:
 `)
 }
 
-func TestMultipleKustomizationPatches(t *testing.T) {
+func TestMultipleComponentes(t *testing.T) {
 	th := kusttest_test.MakeHarness(t)
-	writeKustomizationPatchBase(th)
-	writeKustomizationPatchPatch(th)
-	writeKustomizationPatchProd(th)
+	writeComponentBase(th)
+	writeComponentPatch(th)
+	writeComponentProd(th)
 	th.WriteF("/app/additionalpatch/kustomization.yaml", `
 apiVersion: kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1
-kind: KustomizationPatch
+kind: Component
 configMapGenerator:
 - name: my-configmap
   behavior: merge
@@ -174,14 +174,14 @@ spec:
 `)
 }
 
-func TestNestedKustomizationPatches(t *testing.T) {
+func TestNestedComponents(t *testing.T) {
 	th := kusttest_test.MakeHarness(t)
-	writeKustomizationPatchBase(th)
-	writeKustomizationPatchPatch(th)
-	writeKustomizationPatchProd(th)
+	writeComponentBase(th)
+	writeComponentPatch(th)
+	writeComponentProd(th)
 	th.WriteF("/app/additionalpatch/kustomization.yaml", `
 apiVersion: kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1
-kind: KustomizationPatch
+kind: Component
 resources:
 - ../patch
 configMapGenerator:
@@ -234,11 +234,11 @@ spec:
 
 // If a patch sets a name prefix on a base, then that base can also be separately included
 // without being affected by the patch in another branch of the resource tree
-func TestBasicKustomizationPatchWithRepeatedBase(t *testing.T) {
+func TestBasicComponentWithRepeatedBase(t *testing.T) {
 	th := kusttest_test.MakeHarness(t)
-	writeKustomizationPatchBase(th)
-	writeKustomizationPatchPatch(th)
-	writeKustomizationPatchProd(th)
+	writeComponentBase(th)
+	writeComponentPatch(th)
+	writeComponentProd(th)
 	th.WriteK("/app/repeated", `
 resources:
 - ../base
@@ -295,13 +295,13 @@ spec:
 `)
 }
 
-func TestApplyingKustomizationPatchDirectlySameAsKustomization(t *testing.T) {
+func TestApplyingComponentDirectlySameAsKustomization(t *testing.T) {
 	th := kusttest_test.MakeHarness(t)
-	writeKustomizationPatchBase(th)
-	writeKustomizationPatchPatch(th)
+	writeComponentBase(th)
+	writeComponentPatch(th)
 	th.WriteF("/app/solopatch/kustomization.yaml", `
 apiVersion: kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1
-kind: KustomizationPatch
+kind: Component
 resources:
 - ../base
 configMapGenerator:
diff --git a/api/types/kustomization.go b/api/types/kustomization.go
index 135e3f762..89dc34e12 100644
--- a/api/types/kustomization.go
+++ b/api/types/kustomization.go
@@ -4,10 +4,10 @@
 package types
 
 const (
-	KustomizationVersion   = "kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1"
-	KustomizationKind      = "Kustomization"
-	KustomizationPatchKind = "KustomizationPatch"
-	MetadataNamespacePath  = "metadata/namespace"
+	KustomizationVersion  = "kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1"
+	KustomizationKind     = "Kustomization"
+	ComponentKind         = "Component"
+	MetadataNamespacePath = "metadata/namespace"
 )
 
 // Kustomization holds the information needed to generate customized k8s api resources.
@@ -144,8 +144,8 @@ func (k *Kustomization) EnforceFields() []string {
 	if k.APIVersion != "" && k.APIVersion != KustomizationVersion {
 		errs = append(errs, "apiVersion should be "+KustomizationVersion)
 	}
-	if k.Kind != "" && k.Kind != KustomizationKind && k.Kind != KustomizationPatchKind {
-		errs = append(errs, "kind should be "+KustomizationKind+" or "+KustomizationPatchKind)
+	if k.Kind != "" && k.Kind != KustomizationKind && k.Kind != ComponentKind {
+		errs = append(errs, "kind should be "+KustomizationKind+" or "+ComponentKind)
 	}
 	return errs
 }