diff --git a/api/internal/plugins/execplugin/execplugin.go b/api/internal/plugins/execplugin/execplugin.go
index e65e130a6..7d4ba599d 100644
--- a/api/internal/plugins/execplugin/execplugin.go
+++ b/api/internal/plugins/execplugin/execplugin.go
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/google/shlex"
+	"k8s.io/klog"
 
 	"sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/api/internal/plugins/utils"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/api/resmap"
@@ -21,6 +22,7 @@ import (
 
 const (
 	tmpConfigFilePrefix = "kust-plugin-config-"
+	maxArgStringLength  = 131071
 )
 
 // ExecPlugin record the name and args of an executable
@@ -185,8 +187,19 @@ func (p *ExecPlugin) invokePlugin(input []byte) ([]byte, error) {
 
 func (p *ExecPlugin) getEnv() []string {
 	env := os.Environ()
-	env = append(env,
-		"KUSTOMIZE_PLUGIN_CONFIG_STRING="+string(p.cfg),
-		"KUSTOMIZE_PLUGIN_CONFIG_ROOT="+p.h.Loader().Root())
+	pluginConfigString := "KUSTOMIZE_PLUGIN_CONFIG_STRING=" + string(p.cfg)
+	if len(pluginConfigString) <= maxArgStringLength {
+		env = append(env, pluginConfigString)
+	} else {
+		klog.Warningf("KUSTOMIZE_PLUGIN_CONFIG_STRING exceeds hard limit of %d characters, the environment variable "+
+			"will be omitted", maxArgStringLength)
+	}
+	pluginConfigRoot := "KUSTOMIZE_PLUGIN_CONFIG_ROOT=" + p.h.Loader().Root()
+	if len(pluginConfigRoot) <= maxArgStringLength {
+		env = append(env, pluginConfigRoot)
+	} else {
+		klog.Warningf("KUSTOMIZE_PLUGIN_CONFIG_ROOT exceeds hard limit of %d characters, the environment variable "+
+			"will be omitted", maxArgStringLength)
+	}
 	return env
 }
diff --git a/api/internal/plugins/execplugin/execplugin_test.go b/api/internal/plugins/execplugin/execplugin_test.go
index 37ef5380e..6c9ff3b88 100644
--- a/api/internal/plugins/execplugin/execplugin_test.go
+++ b/api/internal/plugins/execplugin/execplugin_test.go
@@ -20,6 +20,12 @@ import (
 	"sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/kyaml/filesys"
 )
 
+const (
+	expectedLargeConfigMap = `{"apiVersion":"v1","data":{"password":"password","username":"user"},"kind":"ConfigMap",` +
+		`"metadata":{"annotations":{"internal.config.kubernetes.io/generatorBehavior":"unspecified",` +
+		`"internal.config.kubernetes.io/needsHashSuffix":"enabled"},"name":"example-configmap-test"}}`
+)
+
 func TestExecPluginConfig(t *testing.T) {
 	fSys := filesys.MakeFsInMemory()
 	err := fSys.WriteFile("sed-input.txt", []byte(`
@@ -125,3 +131,104 @@ func TestExecPlugin_ErrIfNotExecutable(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("unexpected err: %v", err)
 	}
 }
+
+// TestExecPluginLarge loads PluginConfigs of various (large) sizes. It tests if the env variable is kept below the
+// maximum of 131072 bytes.
+func TestExecPluginLarge(t *testing.T) {
+	// Skip this test on windows.
+	if runtime.GOOS == "windows" {
+		t.Skipf("always returns nil on Windows")
+	}
+
+	// Add executable plugin.
+	srcRoot, err := utils.DeterminePluginSrcRoot(filesys.MakeFsOnDisk())
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Error(err)
+	}
+	executablePlugin := filepath.Join(
+		srcRoot, "someteam.example.com", "v1", "bashedconfigmap", "BashedConfigMap")
+	p := NewExecPlugin(executablePlugin)
+	err = p.ErrIfNotExecutable()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected err: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// Create a fake filesystem.
+	fSys := filesys.MakeFsInMemory()
+
+	// Load plugin config.
+	ldr, err := fLdr.NewLoader(
+		fLdr.RestrictionRootOnly, filesys.Separator, fSys)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	pvd := provider.NewDefaultDepProvider()
+	rf := resmap.NewFactory(pvd.GetResourceFactory())
+	pc := types.DisabledPluginConfig()
+
+	// Test for various lengths. 131071 is the max length that we can have for any given env var in Bytes.
+	tcs := []struct {
+		length int
+		char   rune
+	}{
+		{1000, 'a'},
+		{131071, 'a'},
+		{131072, 'a'},
+		{200000, 'a'},
+		{131071, '安'},
+		{131074, '安'},
+	}
+	for _, tc := range tcs {
+		t.Logf("Testing with an env var length of %d and character %c", tc.length, tc.char)
+		pluginConfig, err := rf.RF().FromBytes(buildLargePluginConfig(tc.length, tc.char))
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("unexpected err: %v", err)
+		}
+		yaml, err := pluginConfig.AsYAML()
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("unexpected err: %v", err)
+		}
+		err = p.Config(resmap.NewPluginHelpers(ldr, pvd.GetFieldValidator(), rf, pc), yaml)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("unexpected err: %v", err)
+		}
+		resMap, err := p.Generate()
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("unexpected err: %v", err)
+		}
+		rNodeSlices := resMap.ToRNodeSlice()
+		for _, rNodeSlice := range rNodeSlices {
+			json, err := rNodeSlice.MarshalJSON()
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("unexpected err: %v", err)
+			}
+			if string(json) != expectedLargeConfigMap {
+				t.Fatalf("expected generated JSON to match %q, but got %q instead",
+					expectedLargeConfigMap, string(json))
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// buildLargePluginConfig builds a plugin configuration of length: length - len("KUSTOMIZE_PLUGIN_CONFIG_STRING=")
+// This allows us to create an environment variable KUSTOMIZE_PLUGIN_CONFIG_STRING=<plugin content> with the exact
+// length that's provided in the length parameter. Used as a helper for TestExecPluginLarge.
+func buildLargePluginConfig(length int, char rune) []byte {
+	length -= len("KUSTOMIZE_PLUGIN_CONFIG_STRING=")
+
+	var sb strings.Builder
+	sb.WriteString("apiVersion: someteam.example.com/v1\n")
+	sb.WriteString("kind: BashedConfigMap\n")
+	sb.WriteString("metadata:\n")
+	sb.WriteString("  name: some-random-name\n")
+	sb.WriteString("argsOneLiner: \"user password\"\n")
+	sb.WriteString("customArg: ")
+
+	// Now, fill up parameter customArg: until we reach the desired length. Account for the fact that runes can be
+	// 1 to 4 Bytes each.
+	upperBound := length - sb.Len()
+	for i := 0; i < upperBound-len(string(char)); i += len(string(char)) {
+		sb.WriteRune(char)
+	}
+	return []byte(sb.String())
+}