diff --git a/.golangci-kustomize.yml b/.golangci-kustomize.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 1ef067984..000000000
--- a/.golangci-kustomize.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,58 +0,0 @@
-run:
-  deadline: 5m
-
-linters:
-  disable-all: true
-  enable:
-    - bodyclose
-    - deadcode
-    - depguard
-    - dogsled
-    - dupl
-#     - errcheck
-    - exportloopref
-#     - funlen
-    - gochecknoinits
-    - goconst
-    - gocritic
-    - gocyclo
-    - gofmt
-    - goimports
-    - gosec
-    - gosimple
-    - govet
-    - ineffassign
-    - lll
-    - misspell
-    - nakedret
-    - nolintlint
-    - revive
-    - staticcheck
-    - structcheck
-#    - stylecheck # seems redundant with revive, which replaced golint
-    - typecheck
-    - unconvert
-    - unparam
-    - unused
-    - varcheck
-    - whitespace
-
-linters-settings:
-  dupl:
-    threshold: 400
-  lll:
-    line-length: 170
-  gocyclo:
-    min-complexity: 15
-  revive:
-    rules:
-    - name: var-naming
-      arguments:
-      - [ "ID", "API", "JSON" ] # AllowList
-      - [ ] # DenyList
-
-issues:
-  exclude-rules:
-    - linters:
-        - revive
-      text: "don't use leading"
diff --git a/kyaml/.golangci.yml b/.golangci.yml
similarity index 50%
rename from kyaml/.golangci.yml
rename to .golangci.yml
index 32932a562..7623b5b89 100644
--- a/kyaml/.golangci.yml
+++ b/.golangci.yml
@@ -3,47 +3,91 @@
 
 run:
   deadline: 5m
-  skip-dirs:
-    - yaml/internal/k8sgen/pkg
-    - internal/forked
 
 linters:
   # please, do not use `enable-all`: it's deprecated and will be removed soon.
   # inverted configuration with `enable-all` and `disable` is not scalable during updates of golangci-lint
   disable-all: true
   enable:
+    - asciicheck
+    - bidichk
     - bodyclose
+    - contextcheck
+#    - cyclop
     - deadcode
     - depguard
     - dogsled
     - dupl
-#    - errcheck
+    - durationcheck
+#    - errcheck # TODO: enable going forward
+#    - errname # TODO: enable going forward
+#    - errorlint # TODO: enable going forward
+#    - exhaustive # TODO: enable going forward
+#    - exhaustivestruct
     - exportloopref
+#    - forbidigo
+#    - forcetypeassert # TODO: enable going forward
 #    - funlen
+#    - gci
+#    - gochecknoglobals
     - gochecknoinits
+#    - gocognit
     - goconst
     - gocritic
     - gocyclo
+#    - godot
+#    - godox
+#    - goerr113 # TODO: enable going forward
     - gofmt
+#    - gofumpt
+    - goheader
     - goimports
+#    - gomnd
+    - gomoddirectives
+    - gomodguard
+    - goprintffuncname
     - gosec
     - gosimple
     - govet
+#    - ifshort
+    - importas
     - ineffassign
+#    - ireturn
     - lll
+    - makezero
     - misspell
     - nakedret
+#    - nestif # TODO: enable going forward
+#    - nilerr # TODO: enable going forward
+#    - nilnil
+#    - nlreturn
+#    - noctx
     - nolintlint
+#    - paralleltest
+#    - prealloc # TODO: enable going forward
+    - predeclared
+    - promlinter
     - revive
+    - rowserrcheck
+    - sqlclosecheck
     - staticcheck
     - structcheck
-#    - stylecheck # seems redundant with revive, which replaced golint
+#    - stylecheck
+    - tagliatelle
+    - tenv
+#    - testpackage # TODO: enable going forward
+    - thelper
+    - tparallel
     - typecheck
     - unconvert
     - unparam
     - unused
     - varcheck
+#    - varnamelen
+    - wastedassign
     - whitespace
+#    - wrapcheck # TODO: enable going forward
+#    - wsl
 
 linters-settings:
   dupl:
@@ -58,11 +102,14 @@ linters-settings:
       arguments:
       - [ "ID", "API", "JSON" ] # AllowList
       - [ ] # DenyList
+  gomoddirectives:
+    replace-local: true
   gosec:
     config:
       G306: "0644"
 
 issues:
+  max-same-issues: 0
   exclude-rules:
     - linters:
         - revive
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index d69ca93bb..1d6d80653 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -203,15 +203,15 @@ clean-kustomize-external-go-plugin:
 .PHONY: lint-kustomize
 lint-kustomize: $(MYGOBIN)/golangci-lint-kustomize $(builtinplugins)
 	cd api; $(MYGOBIN)/golangci-lint-kustomize \
-	  -c ../.golangci-kustomize.yml \
+	  -c ../.golangci.yml \
 	  --path-prefix api \
 	  run ./...
 	cd kustomize; $(MYGOBIN)/golangci-lint-kustomize \
-	  -c ../.golangci-kustomize.yml \
+	  -c ../.golangci.yml \
 	  --path-prefix kustomize \
 	  run ./...
 	cd cmd/pluginator; $(MYGOBIN)/golangci-lint-kustomize \
-	  -c ../../.golangci-kustomize.yml \
+	  -c ../../.golangci.yml \
 	  --path-prefix cmd/pluginator \
 	  run ./...
 
diff --git a/api/hasher/hasher_test.go b/api/hasher/hasher_test.go
index 0235d409e..a0de2bb4f 100644
--- a/api/hasher/hasher_test.go
+++ b/api/hasher/hasher_test.go
@@ -341,6 +341,7 @@ data:
 // The return value indicates whether we should skip the rest of the test case
 // due to the error result.
 func SkipRest(t *testing.T, desc string, err error, contains string) bool {
+	t.Helper()
 	if err != nil {
 		if len(contains) == 0 {
 			t.Errorf("case %q, expect nil error but got %q", desc, err.Error())
diff --git a/api/internal/accumulator/resaccumulator_test.go b/api/internal/accumulator/resaccumulator_test.go
index 1d2140c1e..6cc565682 100644
--- a/api/internal/accumulator/resaccumulator_test.go
+++ b/api/internal/accumulator/resaccumulator_test.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 func makeResAccumulator(t *testing.T) *ResAccumulator {
+	t.Helper()
 	ra := MakeEmptyAccumulator()
 	err := ra.MergeConfig(builtinconfig.MakeDefaultConfig())
 	if err != nil {
@@ -133,6 +134,7 @@ func TestResolveVarsOneUnused(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func expectLog(t *testing.T, log bytes.Buffer, expect string) {
+	t.Helper()
 	if !strings.Contains(log.String(), expect) {
 		t.Fatalf("expected log containing '%s', got '%s'", expect, log.String())
 	}
diff --git a/api/internal/target/maker_test.go b/api/internal/target/maker_test.go
index 9d4f9b1ef..67f1d8dbe 100644
--- a/api/internal/target/maker_test.go
+++ b/api/internal/target/maker_test.go
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ func makeAndLoadKustTarget(
 	t *testing.T,
 	fSys filesys.FileSystem,
 	root string) *target.KustTarget {
+	t.Helper()
 	kt := makeKustTargetWithRf(t, fSys, root, provider.NewDefaultDepProvider())
 	if err := kt.Load(); err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("Unexpected load error %v", err)
@@ -32,6 +33,7 @@ func makeKustTargetWithRf(
 	fSys filesys.FileSystem,
 	root string,
 	pvd *provider.DepProvider) *target.KustTarget {
+	t.Helper()
 	ldr, err := fLdr.NewLoader(fLdr.RestrictionRootOnly, root, fSys)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
diff --git a/api/konfig/plugins_test.go b/api/konfig/plugins_test.go
index f3ed8e828..87320a19f 100644
--- a/api/konfig/plugins_test.go
+++ b/api/konfig/plugins_test.go
@@ -179,9 +179,11 @@ func TestDefaultAbsPluginHomeNoXdgJustHomeDir(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func setenv(t *testing.T, key, value string) {
+	t.Helper()
 	require.NoError(t, os.Setenv(key, value))
 }
 
 func unsetenv(t *testing.T, key string) {
+	t.Helper()
 	require.NoError(t, os.Unsetenv(key))
 }
diff --git a/api/krusty/fnplugin_test.go b/api/krusty/fnplugin_test.go
index 88fa8dee8..e4d5fa83b 100644
--- a/api/krusty/fnplugin_test.go
+++ b/api/krusty/fnplugin_test.go
@@ -214,6 +214,7 @@ spec:
 }
 
 func skipIfNoDocker(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Helper()
 	if _, err := exec.LookPath("docker"); err != nil {
 		t.Skip("skipping because docker binary wasn't found in PATH")
 	}
diff --git a/api/krusty/pluginenv_test.go b/api/krusty/pluginenv_test.go
index a4d8c230c..86351e780 100644
--- a/api/krusty/pluginenv_test.go
+++ b/api/krusty/pluginenv_test.go
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ metadata:
 }
 
 func makeTmpDir(t *testing.T) string {
+	t.Helper()
 	base, err := os.Getwd()
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("err %v", err)
diff --git a/api/loader/fileloader_test.go b/api/loader/fileloader_test.go
index b276121cb..79cc4050e 100644
--- a/api/loader/fileloader_test.go
+++ b/api/loader/fileloader_test.go
@@ -240,6 +240,7 @@ func commonSetupForLoaderRestrictionTest() (string, filesys.FileSystem, error) {
 // in or below the loader root.
 func doSanityChecksAndDropIntoBase(
 	t *testing.T, l ifc.Loader) ifc.Loader {
+	t.Helper()
 	data, err := l.Load(path.Join("base", "okayData"))
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %v", err)
diff --git a/api/resmap/reswrangler_test.go b/api/resmap/reswrangler_test.go
index 44f3f11a9..d254ad9f5 100644
--- a/api/resmap/reswrangler_test.go
+++ b/api/resmap/reswrangler_test.go
@@ -56,12 +56,14 @@ var origin2 = &resource.Origin{
 }
 
 func doAppend(t *testing.T, w ResMap, r *resource.Resource) {
+	t.Helper()
 	err := w.Append(r)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("append error: %v", err)
 	}
 }
 func doRemove(t *testing.T, w ResMap, id resid.ResId) {
+	t.Helper()
 	err := w.Remove(id)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("remove error: %v", err)
diff --git a/api/resmap/selector_test.go b/api/resmap/selector_test.go
index 922fb1c63..e31642e12 100644
--- a/api/resmap/selector_test.go
+++ b/api/resmap/selector_test.go
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 func setupRMForPatchTargets(t *testing.T) ResMap {
+	t.Helper()
 	result, err := rmF.NewResMapFromBytes([]byte(`
 apiVersion: group1/v1
 kind: Kind1
diff --git a/api/resource/resource.go b/api/resource/resource.go
index faf882045..9997e408b 100644
--- a/api/resource/resource.go
+++ b/api/resource/resource.go
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@ type Resource struct {
 	refVarNames []string
 }
 
-// nolint
 var BuildAnnotations = []string{
 	utils.BuildAnnotationPreviousKinds,
 	utils.BuildAnnotationPreviousNames,
diff --git a/api/testutils/filtertest/runfilter.go b/api/testutils/filtertest/runfilter.go
index 95f8d26c3..9c6d308b3 100644
--- a/api/testutils/filtertest/runfilter.go
+++ b/api/testutils/filtertest/runfilter.go
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ func run(input string, f kio.Filter) (string, error) {
 
 // RunFilter runs filter and panic if there is error
 func RunFilter(t *testing.T, input string, f kio.Filter) string {
+	t.Helper()
 	output, err := run(input, f)
 	if !assert.NoError(t, err) {
 		t.FailNow()
@@ -41,6 +42,7 @@ func RunFilter(t *testing.T, input string, f kio.Filter) string {
 
 // RunFilterE runs filter and return error if there is
 func RunFilterE(t *testing.T, input string, f kio.Filter) (string, error) {
+	t.Helper()
 	output, err := run(input, f)
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
diff --git a/api/testutils/kusttest/harness.go b/api/testutils/kusttest/harness.go
index 412502a50..c60a614a5 100644
--- a/api/testutils/kusttest/harness.go
+++ b/api/testutils/kusttest/harness.go
@@ -22,11 +22,13 @@ type Harness struct {
 }
 
 func MakeHarness(t *testing.T) Harness {
+	t.Helper()
 	return MakeHarnessWithFs(t, filesys.MakeFsInMemory())
 }
 
 func MakeHarnessWithFs(
 	t *testing.T, fSys filesys.FileSystem) Harness {
+	t.Helper()
 	return Harness{
 		t:    t,
 		fSys: fSys,
diff --git a/api/testutils/kusttest/harnessenhanced.go b/api/testutils/kusttest/harnessenhanced.go
index fa33f5db8..bf77155bb 100644
--- a/api/testutils/kusttest/harnessenhanced.go
+++ b/api/testutils/kusttest/harnessenhanced.go
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ type HarnessEnhanced struct {
 }
 
 func MakeEnhancedHarness(t *testing.T) *HarnessEnhanced {
+	t.Helper()
 	r := makeBaseEnhancedHarness(t)
 	r.Harness = MakeHarnessWithFs(t, filesys.MakeFsInMemory())
 	// Point the Harness's file loader to the root ('/')
@@ -56,6 +57,7 @@ func MakeEnhancedHarness(t *testing.T) *HarnessEnhanced {
 }
 
 func MakeEnhancedHarnessWithTmpRoot(t *testing.T) *HarnessEnhanced {
+	t.Helper()
 	r := makeBaseEnhancedHarness(t)
 	fSys := filesys.MakeFsOnDisk()
 	r.Harness = MakeHarnessWithFs(t, fSys)
@@ -72,6 +74,7 @@ func MakeEnhancedHarnessWithTmpRoot(t *testing.T) *HarnessEnhanced {
 }
 
 func makeBaseEnhancedHarness(t *testing.T) *HarnessEnhanced {
+	t.Helper()
 	rf := resmap.NewFactory(
 		provider.NewDefaultDepProvider().GetResourceFactory())
 	return &HarnessEnhanced{
diff --git a/api/testutils/kusttest/hasgett.go b/api/testutils/kusttest/hasgett.go
index 33496b9d2..822f99fde 100644
--- a/api/testutils/kusttest/hasgett.go
+++ b/api/testutils/kusttest/hasgett.go
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ func AssertActualEqualsExpectedWithTweak(
 	t *testing.T,
 	m resmap.ResMap,
 	tweaker func([]byte) []byte, expected string) {
+	t.Helper()
 	if m == nil {
 		t.Fatalf("Map should not be nil.")
 	}
@@ -49,13 +50,14 @@ func AssertActualEqualsExpectedWithTweak(
 // Pretty printing of file differences.
 func reportDiffAndFail(
 	t *testing.T, actual []byte, expected string) {
+	t.Helper()
 	sE, maxLen := convertToArray(expected)
 	sA, _ := convertToArray(string(actual))
 	fmt.Println("===== ACTUAL BEGIN ========================================")
 	fmt.Print(string(actual))
 	fmt.Println("===== ACTUAL END ==========================================")
 	format := fmt.Sprintf("%%s  %%-%ds %%s\n", maxLen+4)
-	limit := 0
+	var limit int
 	if len(sE) < len(sA) {
 		limit = len(sE)
 	} else {
diff --git a/api/testutils/kusttest/plugintestenv.go b/api/testutils/kusttest/plugintestenv.go
index 0bc5bd183..460e57e4c 100644
--- a/api/testutils/kusttest/plugintestenv.go
+++ b/api/testutils/kusttest/plugintestenv.go
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ type pluginTestEnv struct {
 
 // newPluginTestEnv returns a new instance of pluginTestEnv.
 func newPluginTestEnv(t *testing.T) *pluginTestEnv {
+	t.Helper()
 	return &pluginTestEnv{t: t}
 }
 
diff --git a/api/testutils/resmaptest/rmbuilder.go b/api/testutils/resmaptest/rmbuilder.go
index 5b725c3c4..1eea23b19 100644
--- a/api/testutils/resmaptest/rmbuilder.go
+++ b/api/testutils/resmaptest/rmbuilder.go
@@ -20,18 +20,22 @@ type rmBuilder struct {
 }
 
 func NewSeededRmBuilder(t *testing.T, rf *resource.Factory, m resmap.ResMap) *rmBuilder {
+	t.Helper()
 	return &rmBuilder{t: t, rf: rf, m: m}
 }
 
 func NewRmBuilder(t *testing.T, rf *resource.Factory) *rmBuilder {
+	t.Helper()
 	return NewSeededRmBuilder(t, rf, resmap.New())
 }
 
 func NewRmBuilderDefault(t *testing.T) *rmBuilder {
+	t.Helper()
 	return NewSeededRmBuilderDefault(t, resmap.New())
 }
 
 func NewSeededRmBuilderDefault(t *testing.T, m resmap.ResMap) *rmBuilder {
+	t.Helper()
 	return NewSeededRmBuilder(
 		t, provider.NewDefaultDepProvider().GetResourceFactory(), m)
 }
diff --git a/api/testutils/valtest/fakevalidator.go b/api/testutils/valtest/fakevalidator.go
index 7e7daadfa..9da5a38ca 100644
--- a/api/testutils/valtest/fakevalidator.go
+++ b/api/testutils/valtest/fakevalidator.go
@@ -22,11 +22,13 @@ const SAD = "i'm not happy Bob, NOT HAPPY"
 
 // MakeHappyMapValidator makes a fakeValidator that always passes.
 func MakeHappyMapValidator(t *testing.T) *fakeValidator {
+	t.Helper()
 	return &fakeValidator{happy: true, t: t}
 }
 
 // MakeSadMapValidator makes a fakeValidator that always fails.
 func MakeSadMapValidator(t *testing.T) *fakeValidator {
+	t.Helper()
 	return &fakeValidator{happy: false, t: t}
 }
 
diff --git a/api/types/helmchartargs.go b/api/types/helmchartargs.go
index 32575835d..05d540462 100644
--- a/api/types/helmchartargs.go
+++ b/api/types/helmchartargs.go
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ type HelmChart struct {
 
 	// IncludeCRDs specifies if Helm should also generate CustomResourceDefinitions.
 	// Defaults to 'false'.
-	IncludeCRDs bool `json:"includeCRDs,omitempty" yaml:"includeCRDs,omitempty"`
+	IncludeCRDs bool `json:"includeCRDs,omitempty" yaml:"includeCRDs,omitempty"` // nolint: tagliatelle
 }
 
 // HelmChartArgs contains arguments to helm.
diff --git a/cmd/config/.golangci.yml b/cmd/config/.golangci.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 18de10587..000000000
--- a/cmd/config/.golangci.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,66 +0,0 @@
-# Copyright 2019 The Kubernetes Authors.
-# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
-
-run:
-  deadline: 5m
-
-linters:
-  # please, do not use `enable-all`: it's deprecated and will be removed soon.
-  # inverted configuration with `enable-all` and `disable` is not scalable during updates of golangci-lint
-  disable-all: true
-  enable:
-    - bodyclose
-    - deadcode
-    - depguard
-    - dogsled
-    - dupl
-#    - errcheck
-    - exportloopref
-#    - funlen
-    - gochecknoinits
-    - goconst
-    - gocritic
-    - gocyclo
-    - gofmt
-    - goimports
-    - gosec
-    - gosimple
-    - govet
-    - ineffassign
-    - lll
-    - misspell
-    - nakedret
-    - nolintlint
-    - revive
-    - staticcheck
-    - structcheck
-#    - stylecheck # seems redundant with revive, which replaced golint
-    - typecheck
-    - unconvert
-    - unparam
-    - unused
-    - varcheck
-    - whitespace
-
-linters-settings:
-  dupl:
-    threshold: 400
-  lll:
-    line-length: 170
-  gocyclo:
-    min-complexity: 30
-  revive:
-    rules:
-    - name: var-naming
-      arguments:
-      - [ "ID", "API", "JSON" ] # AllowList
-      - [ ] # DenyList
-  gosec:
-    config:
-      G306: "0644"
-
-issues:
-  exclude-rules:
-    - linters:
-        - revive
-      text: "don't use leading"
diff --git a/cmd/config/Makefile b/cmd/config/Makefile
index 80b936436..63f51539b 100644
--- a/cmd/config/Makefile
+++ b/cmd/config/Makefile
@@ -37,7 +37,8 @@ lint: $(GOBIN)/golangci-lint
 	$(GOBIN)/golangci-lint \
 	  --skip-dirs $(k8sGenDir) \
 	  run ./... \
-	  --path-prefix=cmd/config
+	  --path-prefix=cmd/config \
+	  -c ../../.golangci.yml
 
 license: $(GOBIN)/addlicense
 	$(GOBIN)/addlicense \
diff --git a/cmd/config/internal/commands/annotate_test.go b/cmd/config/internal/commands/annotate_test.go
index 33c86f43a..cbf20f11c 100644
--- a/cmd/config/internal/commands/annotate_test.go
+++ b/cmd/config/internal/commands/annotate_test.go
@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@ func TestAnnotateCommand(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func initTestDir(t *testing.T) string {
+	t.Helper()
 	d, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "kustomize-annotate-test")
 	if !assert.NoError(t, err) {
 		t.FailNow()
diff --git a/cmd/config/internal/commands/cat.go b/cmd/config/internal/commands/cat.go
index 53ccdc906..62e8f3d96 100644
--- a/cmd/config/internal/commands/cat.go
+++ b/cmd/config/internal/commands/cat.go
@@ -166,7 +166,6 @@ func (r *CatRunner) catFilters() []kio.Filter {
 	return fltrs
 }
 
-// nolint
 func (r *CatRunner) out(w io.Writer) ([]kio.Writer, error) {
 	var outputs []kio.Writer
 	var functionConfig *yaml.RNode
diff --git a/cmd/config/internal/commands/e2e/test_util_test.go b/cmd/config/internal/commands/e2e/test_util_test.go
index 38c1cbbc6..1bf83c8f9 100644
--- a/cmd/config/internal/commands/e2e/test_util_test.go
+++ b/cmd/config/internal/commands/e2e/test_util_test.go
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ type test struct {
 }
 
 func runTests(t *testing.T, tests []test) {
+	t.Helper()
 	dir := build()
 	bin := filepath.Join(dir, kyamlBin)
 
diff --git a/cmd/config/internal/commands/sink.go b/cmd/config/internal/commands/sink.go
index 3efd381de..653c05302 100644
--- a/cmd/config/internal/commands/sink.go
+++ b/cmd/config/internal/commands/sink.go
@@ -46,7 +46,6 @@ See discussion in https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kustomize/issues/3953.`)
 	return err
 }
 
-// nolint
 func (r *SinkRunner) runE(c *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 	var outputs []kio.Writer
 	if len(args) == 1 {
diff --git a/cmd/config/runner/runner.go b/cmd/config/runner/runner.go
index 38fe0ae11..6e4adb0e1 100644
--- a/cmd/config/runner/runner.go
+++ b/cmd/config/runner/runner.go
@@ -132,11 +132,11 @@ var StackOnError bool
 const cmdName = "kustomize fn"
 
 // FixDocs replaces instances of old with new in the docs for c
-func FixDocs(new string, c *cobra.Command) {
-	c.Use = strings.ReplaceAll(c.Use, cmdName, new)
-	c.Short = strings.ReplaceAll(c.Short, cmdName, new)
-	c.Long = strings.ReplaceAll(c.Long, cmdName, new)
-	c.Example = strings.ReplaceAll(c.Example, cmdName, new)
+func FixDocs(newStr string, c *cobra.Command) {
+	c.Use = strings.ReplaceAll(c.Use, cmdName, newStr)
+	c.Short = strings.ReplaceAll(c.Short, cmdName, newStr)
+	c.Long = strings.ReplaceAll(c.Long, cmdName, newStr)
+	c.Example = strings.ReplaceAll(c.Example, cmdName, newStr)
 }
 
 // containsString returns true if slice contains s
diff --git a/cmd/pluginator/internal/krmfunction/converter_test.go b/cmd/pluginator/internal/krmfunction/converter_test.go
index aa87571a1..15558ec46 100644
--- a/cmd/pluginator/internal/krmfunction/converter_test.go
+++ b/cmd/pluginator/internal/krmfunction/converter_test.go
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 func makeTempDir(t *testing.T) string {
+	t.Helper()
 	s, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "pluginator-*")
 	assert.NoError(t, err)
 	return s
@@ -99,6 +100,7 @@ items:
 }
 
 func runKrmFunction(t *testing.T, input []byte, dir string) []byte {
+	t.Helper()
 	cmd := exec.Command("go", "run", ".")
 	ib := bytes.NewReader(input)
 	cmd.Stdin = ib
diff --git a/kustomize/commands/create/create_test.go b/kustomize/commands/create/create_test.go
index 3d0624f74..7d869f4b7 100644
--- a/kustomize/commands/create/create_test.go
+++ b/kustomize/commands/create/create_test.go
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import (
 var factory = provider.NewDefaultDepProvider().GetResourceFactory()
 
 func readKustomizationFS(t *testing.T, fSys filesys.FileSystem) *types.Kustomization {
+	t.Helper()
 	kf, err := kustfile.NewKustomizationFile(fSys)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Errorf("unexpected new error %v", err)
diff --git a/kustomize/commands/edit/add/addmetadata_test.go b/kustomize/commands/edit/add/addmetadata_test.go
index c3c5ca55c..2c2c7980a 100644
--- a/kustomize/commands/edit/add/addmetadata_test.go
+++ b/kustomize/commands/edit/add/addmetadata_test.go
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 func makeKustomization(t *testing.T) *types.Kustomization {
+	t.Helper()
 	fSys := filesys.MakeFsInMemory()
 	testutils_test.WriteTestKustomization(fSys)
 	kf, err := kustfile.NewKustomizationFile(fSys)
diff --git a/kustomize/commands/edit/remove/removemetadata_test.go b/kustomize/commands/edit/remove/removemetadata_test.go
index 54ad78fff..53afe6129 100644
--- a/kustomize/commands/edit/remove/removemetadata_test.go
+++ b/kustomize/commands/edit/remove/removemetadata_test.go
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ func makeKustomizationFS() filesys.FileSystem {
 }
 
 func readKustomizationFS(t *testing.T, fSys filesys.FileSystem) *types.Kustomization {
+	t.Helper()
 	kf, err := kustfile.NewKustomizationFile(fSys)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Errorf("unexpected new error %v", err)
@@ -39,6 +40,7 @@ func readKustomizationFS(t *testing.T, fSys filesys.FileSystem) *types.Kustomiza
 }
 
 func makeKustomization(t *testing.T) *types.Kustomization {
+	t.Helper()
 	fSys := makeKustomizationFS()
 	return readKustomizationFS(t, fSys)
 }
diff --git a/kustomize/commands/edit/remove_test/removetest.go b/kustomize/commands/edit/remove_test/removetest.go
index 2fdced459..062ee8745 100644
--- a/kustomize/commands/edit/remove_test/removetest.go
+++ b/kustomize/commands/edit/remove_test/removetest.go
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ type Case struct {
 // collection Name (e.g. transformers or resources) and newRemoveCmdToTest function.
 func ExecuteTestCases(t *testing.T, testCases []Case, collectionName string,
 	newRemoveCmdToTest func(filesys.FileSystem) *cobra.Command) {
+	t.Helper()
 	for _, tc := range testCases {
 		t.Run(tc.Description, func(t *testing.T) {
 			fSys := filesys.MakeFsInMemory()
diff --git a/kustomize/commands/edit/set/setannotation_test.go b/kustomize/commands/edit/set/setannotation_test.go
index a109301fb..9b1a5d06f 100644
--- a/kustomize/commands/edit/set/setannotation_test.go
+++ b/kustomize/commands/edit/set/setannotation_test.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ const invalidAnnotationKey string = "invalid annotation key: see the syntax and
 	"https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/overview/working-with-objects/annotations/"
 
 func makeAnnotationKustomization(t *testing.T) *types.Kustomization {
+	t.Helper()
 	fSys := filesys.MakeFsInMemory()
 	testutils_test.WriteTestKustomization(fSys)
 	kf, err := kustfile.NewKustomizationFile(fSys)
diff --git a/kustomize/commands/edit/set/setlabel_test.go b/kustomize/commands/edit/set/setlabel_test.go
index 749dccf30..1c755b3cf 100644
--- a/kustomize/commands/edit/set/setlabel_test.go
+++ b/kustomize/commands/edit/set/setlabel_test.go
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 func makeKustomization(t *testing.T) *types.Kustomization {
+	t.Helper()
 	fSys := filesys.MakeFsInMemory()
 	testutils_test.WriteTestKustomization(fSys)
 	kf, err := kustfile.NewKustomizationFile(fSys)
diff --git a/kyaml/Makefile b/kyaml/Makefile
index 0346a522c..825abb9fa 100644
--- a/kyaml/Makefile
+++ b/kyaml/Makefile
@@ -34,7 +34,10 @@ clean:
 lint: $(MYGOBIN)/golangci-lint
 	$(MYGOBIN)/golangci-lint \
 	  run ./... \
-	  --path-prefix=kyaml
+	  --path-prefix=kyaml \
+	  -c ../.golangci.yml \
+	  --skip-dirs yaml/internal/k8sgen/pkg \
+	  --skip-dirs internal/forked
 
 
 license: $(MYGOBIN)/addlicense
diff --git a/kyaml/copyutil/copyutil.go b/kyaml/copyutil/copyutil.go
index 3b7d01784..e66ec6911 100644
--- a/kyaml/copyutil/copyutil.go
+++ b/kyaml/copyutil/copyutil.go
@@ -188,8 +188,7 @@ func SyncFile(src, dst string) error {
 
 // deleteFile deletes file from path, returns no error if file doesn't exist
 func deleteFile(path string) error {
-	_, err := os.Stat(path)
-	if err != nil {
+	if _, err := os.Stat(path); err != nil {
 		// return nil if file doesn't exist
 		return nil
 	}
diff --git a/kyaml/filesys/confirmeddir_test.go b/kyaml/filesys/confirmeddir_test.go
index bcdb817c3..fdc9ae90a 100644
--- a/kyaml/filesys/confirmeddir_test.go
+++ b/kyaml/filesys/confirmeddir_test.go
@@ -14,8 +14,7 @@ import (
 
 func TestJoin(t *testing.T) {
 	fSys := MakeFsInMemory()
-	err := fSys.Mkdir("/foo")
-	if err != nil {
+	if err := fSys.Mkdir("/foo"); err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("unexpected err: %v", err)
 	}
 	d, f, err := fSys.CleanedAbs("/foo")
diff --git a/kyaml/filesys/filesystem_test.go b/kyaml/filesys/filesystem_test.go
index 9599e6c45..a84943c96 100644
--- a/kyaml/filesys/filesystem_test.go
+++ b/kyaml/filesys/filesystem_test.go
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ func TestNotExistErr(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func testNotExistErr(t *testing.T, fs FileSystem) {
+	t.Helper()
 	const path = "bad-dir/file.txt"
 
 	err := fs.RemoveAll(path)
diff --git a/kyaml/filesys/fsnode_test.go b/kyaml/filesys/fsnode_test.go
index 29dd3fb3d..b880f1bce 100644
--- a/kyaml/filesys/fsnode_test.go
+++ b/kyaml/filesys/fsnode_test.go
@@ -96,6 +96,7 @@ func TestMakeFsInMemory(t *testing.T) {
 func runBasicOperations(
 	t *testing.T, tName string, isFSysRooted bool,
 	cases []pathCase, fSys FileSystem) {
+	t.Helper()
 	for _, c := range cases {
 		err := fSys.WriteFile(c.arg, []byte(content))
 		if c.errStr != "" {
@@ -370,6 +371,7 @@ func TestAddFile(t *testing.T) {
 func checkNode(
 	t *testing.T, what string, f *fsNode, name string,
 	size int, isDir bool, path string) {
+	t.Helper()
 	if f.isNodeADir() != isDir {
 		t.Fatalf("%s; unexpected isNodeADir = %v", what, f.isNodeADir())
 	}
@@ -387,6 +389,7 @@ func checkNode(
 func checkOsStat(
 	t *testing.T, what string, f File, name string,
 	size int, isDir bool) {
+	t.Helper()
 	info, err := f.Stat()
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("%s; unexpected stat error %v", what, err)
@@ -473,6 +476,7 @@ var bunchOfFiles = []struct {
 }
 
 func makeLoadedFileTree(t *testing.T) *fsNode {
+	t.Helper()
 	n := MakeEmptyDirInMemory()
 	var err error
 	expectedFileCount := 0
@@ -487,8 +491,7 @@ func makeLoadedFileTree(t *testing.T) *fsNode {
 			t.Fatalf("unexpected error %v", err)
 		}
 	}
-	fc := n.FileCount()
-	if fc != expectedFileCount {
+	if fc := n.FileCount(); fc != expectedFileCount {
 		t.Fatalf("expected file count %d, got %d",
 			expectedFileCount, fc)
 	}
@@ -565,8 +568,7 @@ func TestRemove(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	orgCount -= 1
 
-	fc := n.FileCount()
-	if fc != orgCount {
+	if fc := n.FileCount(); fc != orgCount {
 		t.Fatalf("expected file count %d, got %d",
 			orgCount, fc)
 	}
diff --git a/kyaml/filesys/fsondisk_test.go b/kyaml/filesys/fsondisk_test.go
index 221f10daa..80a9cba01 100644
--- a/kyaml/filesys/fsondisk_test.go
+++ b/kyaml/filesys/fsondisk_test.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 func makeTestDir(t *testing.T) (FileSystem, string) {
+	t.Helper()
 	fSys := MakeFsOnDisk()
 	td, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "kustomize_testing_dir")
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/kyaml/filesys/util.go b/kyaml/filesys/util.go
index 4d8958a2b..fdbe5e2c7 100644
--- a/kyaml/filesys/util.go
+++ b/kyaml/filesys/util.go
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ func InsertPathPart(path string, pos int, part string) string {
 	result := make([]string, len(parts)+1)
 	copy(result, parts[0:pos])
 	result[pos] = part
-	return PathJoin(append(result, parts[pos:]...))
+	return PathJoin(append(result, parts[pos:]...)) // nolint: makezero
 }
 
 func IsHiddenFilePath(pattern string) bool {
diff --git a/kyaml/filesys/util_test.go b/kyaml/filesys/util_test.go
index da8d3f6bc..24c08cfb5 100644
--- a/kyaml/filesys/util_test.go
+++ b/kyaml/filesys/util_test.go
@@ -159,6 +159,7 @@ func TestPathSplitAndJoin(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	for n, c := range cases {
 		f := func(t *testing.T, original string, expected []string) {
+			t.Helper()
 			actual := PathSplit(original)
 			if len(actual) != len(expected) {
 				t.Fatalf(
diff --git a/kyaml/fn/framework/frameworktestutil/frameworktestutil.go b/kyaml/fn/framework/frameworktestutil/frameworktestutil.go
index 246c6e2e0..8a6ec6c49 100644
--- a/kyaml/fn/framework/frameworktestutil/frameworktestutil.go
+++ b/kyaml/fn/framework/frameworktestutil/frameworktestutil.go
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ type CommandResultsChecker struct {
 // Assert runs the command with the input provided in each valid test directory
 // and verifies that the actual output and error match the fixtures in the directory.
 func (rc *CommandResultsChecker) Assert(t *testing.T) bool {
+	t.Helper()
 	if rc.ConfigInputFilename == "" {
 		rc.ConfigInputFilename = DefaultConfigInputFilename
 	}
@@ -109,6 +110,7 @@ func (rc *CommandResultsChecker) isTestDir(path string) bool {
 }
 
 func (rc *CommandResultsChecker) runInCurrentDir(t *testing.T) (string, string) {
+	t.Helper()
 	_, err := os.Stat(rc.ConfigInputFilename)
 	if os.IsNotExist(err) {
 		t.Errorf("Test case is missing FunctionConfig input file (default: %s)", DefaultConfigInputFilename)
@@ -180,6 +182,7 @@ type ProcessorResultsChecker struct {
 // Assert runs the processor with the input provided in each valid test directory
 // and verifies that the actual output and error match the fixtures in the directory.
 func (rc *ProcessorResultsChecker) Assert(t *testing.T) bool {
+	t.Helper()
 	if rc.InputFilename == "" {
 		rc.InputFilename = DefaultInputFilename
 	}
@@ -205,6 +208,7 @@ func (rc *ProcessorResultsChecker) isTestDir(path string) bool {
 }
 
 func (rc *ProcessorResultsChecker) runInCurrentDir(t *testing.T) (string, string) {
+	t.Helper()
 	_, err := os.Stat(rc.InputFilename)
 	if os.IsNotExist(err) {
 		t.Errorf("Test case is missing input file (default: %s)", DefaultInputFilename)
@@ -232,6 +236,7 @@ type AssertionFunc func(t *testing.T, expected string, actual string)
 // RequireEachLineMatches is an AssertionFunc that treats each line of expected string
 // as a regex that must match the actual string.
 func RequireEachLineMatches(t *testing.T, expected, actual string) {
+	t.Helper()
 	// Check that each expected line matches the output
 	actual = standardizeSpacing(actual)
 	for _, msg := range strings.Split(standardizeSpacing(expected), "\n") {
@@ -242,6 +247,7 @@ func RequireEachLineMatches(t *testing.T, expected, actual string) {
 // RequireStrippedStringsEqual is an AssertionFunc that does a simple string comparison
 // of expected and actual after normalizing whitespace.
 func RequireStrippedStringsEqual(t *testing.T, expected, actual string) {
+	t.Helper()
 	require.Equal(t,
 		standardizeSpacing(expected),
 		standardizeSpacing(actual))
@@ -330,6 +336,7 @@ func (rc *checkerCore) shouldUpdateFixtures() bool {
 }
 
 func (rc *checkerCore) updateFixtures(t *testing.T, actualOutput string, actualError string) {
+	t.Helper()
 	if actualError != "" {
 		require.NoError(t, ioutil.WriteFile(rc.expectedErrorFilename, []byte(actualError), 0600))
 	}
@@ -340,14 +347,17 @@ func (rc *checkerCore) updateFixtures(t *testing.T, actualOutput string, actualE
 }
 
 func (rc *checkerCore) assertOutputMatches(t *testing.T, expected string, actual string) {
+	t.Helper()
 	rc.outputAssertionFunc(t, expected, actual)
 }
 
 func (rc *checkerCore) assertErrorMatches(t *testing.T, expected string, actual string) {
+	t.Helper()
 	rc.errorAssertionFunc(t, expected, actual)
 }
 
 func (rc *checkerCore) readAssertionFiles(t *testing.T) (string, string) {
+	t.Helper()
 	// read the expected results
 	var expectedOutput, expectedError string
 	if rc.expectedOutputFilename != "" {
@@ -385,6 +395,7 @@ func (rc *checkerCore) readAssertionFiles(t *testing.T) (string, string) {
 // under test in each directory, and then runs assertions on the returned output and error results.
 // It triggers a test failure if no valid test directories were found.
 func runAllTestCases(t *testing.T, checker resultsChecker) {
+	t.Helper()
 	checker.resetTestCasesRun()
 	err := filepath.Walk(checker.rootDir(),
 		func(path string, info os.FileInfo, err error) error {
@@ -399,6 +410,7 @@ func runAllTestCases(t *testing.T, checker resultsChecker) {
 }
 
 func runDirectoryTestCase(t *testing.T, path string, checker resultsChecker) {
+	t.Helper()
 	// cd into the directory so we can test functions that refer to local files by relative paths
 	d, err := os.Getwd()
 	require.NoError(t, err)
diff --git a/kyaml/fn/framework/function_definition.go b/kyaml/fn/framework/function_definition.go
index 8bbdf89a0..683219896 100644
--- a/kyaml/fn/framework/function_definition.go
+++ b/kyaml/fn/framework/function_definition.go
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ type KRMFunctionVersion struct {
 
 type KRMFunctionValidation struct {
 	// OpenAPIV3Schema is the OpenAPI v3 schema for an instance of the KRM function.
-	OpenAPIV3Schema *spec.Schema `yaml:"openAPIV3Schema,omitempty" json:"openAPIV3Schema,omitempty"`
+	OpenAPIV3Schema *spec.Schema `yaml:"openAPIV3Schema,omitempty" json:"openAPIV3Schema,omitempty"` // nolint: tagliatelle
 }
 
 type KRMFunctionNames struct {
diff --git a/kyaml/fn/runtime/container/container_test.go b/kyaml/fn/runtime/container/container_test.go
index 1fb51f077..06c3a7dd2 100644
--- a/kyaml/fn/runtime/container/container_test.go
+++ b/kyaml/fn/runtime/container/container_test.go
@@ -242,6 +242,7 @@ func TestFilter_ExitCode(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func getWorkingDir(t *testing.T) string {
+	t.Helper()
 	wd, err := os.Getwd()
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	return wd
diff --git a/kyaml/fn/runtime/starlark/starlark.go b/kyaml/fn/runtime/starlark/starlark.go
index 825ff63a0..9d7450a48 100644
--- a/kyaml/fn/runtime/starlark/starlark.go
+++ b/kyaml/fn/runtime/starlark/starlark.go
@@ -40,8 +40,7 @@ func (sf *Filter) String() string {
 }
 
 func (sf *Filter) Filter(nodes []*yaml.RNode) ([]*yaml.RNode, error) {
-	err := sf.setup()
-	if err != nil {
+	if err := sf.setup(); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	sf.FunctionFilter.Run = sf.Run
diff --git a/kyaml/kio/kio_test.go b/kyaml/kio/kio_test.go
index 0bd3c6dd3..fb399ad98 100644
--- a/kyaml/kio/kio_test.go
+++ b/kyaml/kio/kio_test.go
@@ -91,8 +91,7 @@ func TestEmptyInput(t *testing.T) {
 		Outputs: []Writer{output},
 	}
 
-	err := p.Execute()
-	if err != nil {
+	if err := p.Execute(); err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 
@@ -132,8 +131,7 @@ func TestEmptyInputWithFilter(t *testing.T) {
 		Filters: filters,
 	}
 
-	err := p.Execute()
-	if err != nil {
+	if err := p.Execute(); err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 
diff --git a/kyaml/kio/pkgio_reader_test.go b/kyaml/kio/pkgio_reader_test.go
index 1f7183361..721f15c60 100644
--- a/kyaml/kio/pkgio_reader_test.go
+++ b/kyaml/kio/pkgio_reader_test.go
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ func TestLocalPackageReader_Read_pkg(t *testing.T) {
 		{path: "c_test.yaml", content: readFileC},
 		{path: "d_test.yaml", content: readFileD},
 	}, func(t *testing.T, path string, mockFS filesys.FileSystem) {
+		t.Helper()
 		rfr := LocalPackageReader{
 			PackagePath: path,
 			FileSystem:  filesys.FileSystemOrOnDisk{FileSystem: mockFS},
@@ -136,6 +137,7 @@ func TestLocalPackageReader_Read_pkgAndSkipFile(t *testing.T) {
 		{path: "c_test.yaml", content: readFileC},
 		{path: "d_test.yaml", content: readFileD},
 	}, func(t *testing.T, path string, mockFS filesys.FileSystem) {
+		t.Helper()
 		rfr := LocalPackageReader{
 			PackagePath:  path,
 			FileSkipFunc: func(relPath string) bool { return relPath == "d_test.yaml" },
@@ -207,6 +209,7 @@ func TestLocalPackageReader_Read_JSON(t *testing.T) {
 		  }`),
 		},
 	}, func(t *testing.T, path string, mockFS filesys.FileSystem) {
+		t.Helper()
 		rfr := LocalPackageReader{
 			PackagePath:    path,
 			MatchFilesGlob: []string{"*.json"},
@@ -246,6 +249,7 @@ func TestLocalPackageReader_Read_file(t *testing.T) {
 		{path: "a_test.yaml", content: readFileA},
 		{path: "b_test.yaml", content: readFileB},
 	}, func(t *testing.T, path string, mockFS filesys.FileSystem) {
+		t.Helper()
 		rfr := LocalPackageReader{
 			PackagePath: filepath.Join(path, "a_test.yaml"),
 			FileSystem:  filesys.FileSystemOrOnDisk{FileSystem: mockFS},
@@ -286,6 +290,7 @@ func TestLocalPackageReader_Read_pkgOmitAnnotations(t *testing.T) {
 		{path: "a_test.yaml", content: readFileA},
 		{path: "b_test.yaml", content: readFileB},
 	}, func(t *testing.T, path string, mockFS filesys.FileSystem) {
+		t.Helper()
 		rfr := LocalPackageReader{
 			PackagePath:           path,
 			OmitReaderAnnotations: true,
@@ -322,6 +327,7 @@ func TestLocalPackageReader_Read_PreserveSeqIndent(t *testing.T) {
 		{path: "a_test.yaml", content: readFileA},
 		{path: "b_test.yaml", content: readFileB},
 	}, func(t *testing.T, path string, mockFS filesys.FileSystem) {
+		t.Helper()
 		rfr := LocalPackageReader{
 			PackagePath:       path,
 			PreserveSeqIndent: true,
@@ -379,6 +385,7 @@ func TestLocalPackageReader_Read_nestedDirs(t *testing.T) {
 		{path: "a/b/a_test.yaml", content: readFileA},
 		{path: "a/b/b_test.yaml", content: readFileB},
 	}, func(t *testing.T, path string, mockFS filesys.FileSystem) {
+		t.Helper()
 		rfr := LocalPackageReader{
 			PackagePath: path,
 			FileSystem:  filesys.FileSystemOrOnDisk{FileSystem: mockFS},
@@ -433,6 +440,7 @@ func TestLocalPackageReader_Read_matchRegex(t *testing.T) {
 		{path: "a/b/a_test.yaml", content: readFileA},
 		{path: "a/b/b_test.yaml", content: readFileB},
 	}, func(t *testing.T, path string, mockFS filesys.FileSystem) {
+		t.Helper()
 		rfr := LocalPackageReader{
 			PackagePath:    path,
 			MatchFilesGlob: []string{`a*.yaml`},
@@ -478,6 +486,7 @@ func TestLocalPackageReader_Read_skipSubpackage(t *testing.T) {
 		{path: "a/c/c_test.yaml", content: readFileB},
 		{path: "a/c/pkgFile", content: pkgFile},
 	}, func(t *testing.T, path string, mockFS filesys.FileSystem) {
+		t.Helper()
 		rfr := LocalPackageReader{
 			PackagePath:     path,
 			PackageFileName: "pkgFile",
@@ -523,6 +532,7 @@ func TestLocalPackageReader_Read_includeSubpackage(t *testing.T) {
 		{path: "a/c/c_test.yaml", content: readFileB},
 		{path: "a/c/pkgFile", content: pkgFile},
 	}, func(t *testing.T, path string, mockFS filesys.FileSystem) {
+		t.Helper()
 		rfr := LocalPackageReader{
 			PackagePath:        path,
 			IncludeSubpackages: true,
@@ -581,6 +591,7 @@ type mockFile struct {
 }
 
 func testOnDiskAndOnMem(t *testing.T, files []mockFile, f func(t *testing.T, path string, fs filesys.FileSystem)) {
+	t.Helper()
 	t.Run("on_disk", func(t *testing.T) {
 		var dirs []string
 		for _, file := range files {
@@ -627,6 +638,7 @@ func TestLocalPackageReader_ReadBareSeqNodes(t *testing.T) {
 		{path: "a/c"},
 		{path: "e_test.yaml", content: readFileE},
 	}, func(t *testing.T, path string, mockFS filesys.FileSystem) {
+		t.Helper()
 		rfr := LocalPackageReader{
 			PackagePath:     path,
 			FileSystem:      filesys.FileSystemOrOnDisk{FileSystem: mockFS},
diff --git a/kyaml/kio/pkgio_writer_test.go b/kyaml/kio/pkgio_writer_test.go
index 16aea4adf..387eae1d1 100644
--- a/kyaml/kio/pkgio_writer_test.go
+++ b/kyaml/kio/pkgio_writer_test.go
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import (
 // - ReaderAnnotations are cleared when writing the Resources
 func TestLocalPackageWriter_Write(t *testing.T) {
 	testWriterOnDiskAndOnMem(t, func(t *testing.T, fs filesys.FileSystem) {
+		t.Helper()
 		d, node1, node2, node3, cleanup := getWriterInputs(t, fs)
 		defer cleanup()
 
@@ -57,6 +58,7 @@ g:
 // - ReaderAnnotations are kept when writing the Resources
 func TestLocalPackageWriter_Write_keepReaderAnnotations(t *testing.T) {
 	testWriterOnDiskAndOnMem(t, func(t *testing.T, fs filesys.FileSystem) {
+		t.Helper()
 		d, node1, node2, node3, cleanup := getWriterInputs(t, fs)
 		defer cleanup()
 
@@ -108,6 +110,7 @@ metadata:
 // - ClearAnnotations are removed from Resources
 func TestLocalPackageWriter_Write_clearAnnotations(t *testing.T) {
 	testWriterOnDiskAndOnMem(t, func(t *testing.T, fs filesys.FileSystem) {
+		t.Helper()
 		d, node1, node2, node3, cleanup := getWriterInputs(t, fs)
 		defer cleanup()
 
@@ -141,6 +144,7 @@ g:
 // - If a relative path above the package is defined, write fails
 func TestLocalPackageWriter_Write_failRelativePath(t *testing.T) {
 	testWriterOnDiskAndOnMem(t, func(t *testing.T, fs filesys.FileSystem) {
+		t.Helper()
 		d, node1, node2, node3, cleanup := getWriterInputs(t, fs)
 		defer cleanup()
 
@@ -171,6 +175,7 @@ metadata:
 // - If a non-int index is given, fail
 func TestLocalPackageWriter_Write_invalidIndex(t *testing.T) {
 	testWriterOnDiskAndOnMem(t, func(t *testing.T, fs filesys.FileSystem) {
+		t.Helper()
 		d, node1, node2, node3, cleanup := getWriterInputs(t, fs)
 		defer cleanup()
 
@@ -201,6 +206,7 @@ metadata:
 // - If config.kubernetes.io/path is absolute, fail
 func TestLocalPackageWriter_Write_absPath(t *testing.T) {
 	testWriterOnDiskAndOnMem(t, func(t *testing.T, fs filesys.FileSystem) {
+		t.Helper()
 		d, node1, node2, node3, cleanup := getWriterInputs(t, fs)
 		defer cleanup()
 
@@ -232,6 +238,7 @@ metadata:
 // - If config.kubernetes.io/path or index are missing, then default them
 func TestLocalPackageWriter_Write_missingAnnotations(t *testing.T) {
 	testWriterOnDiskAndOnMem(t, func(t *testing.T, fs filesys.FileSystem) {
+		t.Helper()
 		d, node1, node2, node3, cleanup := getWriterInputs(t, fs)
 		defer cleanup()
 
@@ -263,6 +270,7 @@ metadata:
 // - If  config.kubernetes.io/path is a directory, fail
 func TestLocalPackageWriter_Write_pathIsDir(t *testing.T) {
 	testWriterOnDiskAndOnMem(t, func(t *testing.T, fs filesys.FileSystem) {
+		t.Helper()
 		d, node1, node2, node3, cleanup := getWriterInputs(t, fs)
 		defer cleanup()
 
@@ -289,6 +297,7 @@ metadata:
 }
 
 func testWriterOnDiskAndOnMem(t *testing.T, f func(t *testing.T, fs filesys.FileSystem)) {
+	t.Helper()
 	t.Run("on_disk", func(t *testing.T) { f(t, filesys.MakeFsOnDisk()) })
 	// TODO: Once fsnode supports Windows, these tests should also be run.
 	if runtime.GOOS != "windows" {
@@ -297,6 +306,7 @@ func testWriterOnDiskAndOnMem(t *testing.T, f func(t *testing.T, fs filesys.File
 }
 
 func getWriterInputs(t *testing.T, mockFS filesys.FileSystem) (string, *yaml.RNode, *yaml.RNode, *yaml.RNode, func()) {
+	t.Helper()
 	node1, err := yaml.Parse(`a: b #first
 metadata:
   annotations:
diff --git a/kyaml/kio/testing.go b/kyaml/kio/testing.go
index b973e9fbb..6c46a2804 100644
--- a/kyaml/kio/testing.go
+++ b/kyaml/kio/testing.go
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ type Setup struct {
 
 // setupDirectories creates directories for reading test configuration from
 func SetupDirectories(t *testing.T, dirs ...string) Setup {
+	t.Helper()
 	d, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "kyaml-test")
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	err = os.Chdir(d)
@@ -33,6 +34,7 @@ func SetupDirectories(t *testing.T, dirs ...string) Setup {
 
 // writeFile writes a file under the test directory
 func (s Setup) WriteFile(t *testing.T, path string, value []byte) {
+	t.Helper()
 	err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Dir(filepath.Join(s.Root, path)), 0700)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	err = ioutil.WriteFile(filepath.Join(s.Root, path), value, 0600)
diff --git a/kyaml/openapi/openapi.go b/kyaml/openapi/openapi.go
index 8b644166a..bc36766a1 100644
--- a/kyaml/openapi/openapi.go
+++ b/kyaml/openapi/openapi.go
@@ -316,9 +316,8 @@ func toTypeMeta(ext interface{}) (yaml.TypeMeta, bool) {
 		return yaml.TypeMeta{}, false
 	}
 
-	g := m[groupKey].(string)
 	apiVersion := m[versionKey].(string)
-	if g != "" {
+	if g := m[groupKey].(string); g != "" {
 		apiVersion = g + "/" + apiVersion
 	}
 	return yaml.TypeMeta{Kind: m[kindKey].(string), APIVersion: apiVersion}, true
diff --git a/kyaml/runfn/runfn_test.go b/kyaml/runfn/runfn_test.go
index 36b660737..460ddae02 100644
--- a/kyaml/runfn/runfn_test.go
+++ b/kyaml/runfn/runfn_test.go
@@ -1170,6 +1170,7 @@ func TestCmd_Execute_enableLogSteps(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func getGeneratorFilterProvider(t *testing.T) func(runtimeutil.FunctionSpec, *yaml.RNode, currentUserFunc) (kio.Filter, error) {
+	t.Helper()
 	return func(f runtimeutil.FunctionSpec, node *yaml.RNode, currentUser currentUserFunc) (kio.Filter, error) {
 		return kio.FilterFunc(func(items []*yaml.RNode) ([]*yaml.RNode, error) {
 			if f.Container.Image == "generate" {
@@ -1238,6 +1239,7 @@ metadata:
 
 // setupTest initializes a temp test directory containing test data
 func setupTest(t *testing.T) string {
+	t.Helper()
 	dir, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "kustomize-kyaml-test")
 	if !assert.NoError(t, err) {
 		t.FailNow()
@@ -1264,6 +1266,7 @@ func setupTest(t *testing.T) string {
 // a filter to s/kind: Deployment/kind: StatefulSet/g.
 // this can be used to simulate running a filter.
 func getFilterProvider(t *testing.T) func(runtimeutil.FunctionSpec, *yaml.RNode, currentUserFunc) (kio.Filter, error) {
+	t.Helper()
 	return func(f runtimeutil.FunctionSpec, node *yaml.RNode, currentUser currentUserFunc) (kio.Filter, error) {
 		// parse the filter from the input
 		filter := yaml.YFilter{}
diff --git a/kyaml/setters2/set_test.go b/kyaml/setters2/set_test.go
index 532a03e28..c9385cc55 100644
--- a/kyaml/setters2/set_test.go
+++ b/kyaml/setters2/set_test.go
@@ -1002,6 +1002,7 @@ spec:
 
 // initSchema initializes the openAPI with the definitions from s
 func SettersSchema(t *testing.T, s string) *spec.Schema {
+	t.Helper()
 	dir, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "")
 	assert.NoError(t, err)
 	defer os.RemoveAll(dir)
diff --git a/kyaml/testutil/testutil.go b/kyaml/testutil/testutil.go
index b9f6b5397..5f1b8accc 100644
--- a/kyaml/testutil/testutil.go
+++ b/kyaml/testutil/testutil.go
@@ -6,12 +6,11 @@ package testutil
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"runtime"
+	"testing"
 
 	"sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/kyaml/kio"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/kyaml/yaml"
 
-	"testing"
-
 	goerrors "github.com/go-errors/errors"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
@@ -43,6 +42,7 @@ func UpdateYamlBytes(b []byte, function ...yaml.Filter) ([]byte, error) {
 }
 
 func AssertErrorContains(t *testing.T, err error, value string, msg ...string) {
+	t.Helper()
 	if !assert.Error(t, err, msg) {
 		t.FailNow()
 	}
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ func AssertErrorContains(t *testing.T, err error, value string, msg ...string) {
 }
 
 func AssertNoError(t *testing.T, err error, msg ...string) {
+	t.Helper()
 	if !assert.NoError(t, err, msg) {
 		gerr, ok := err.(*goerrors.Error)
 		if ok {
@@ -62,6 +63,7 @@ func AssertNoError(t *testing.T, err error, msg ...string) {
 }
 
 func SkipWindows(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Helper()
 	if runtime.GOOS == "windows" {
 		t.Skip()
 	}
diff --git a/kyaml/yaml/example_test.go b/kyaml/yaml/example_test.go
index 89da82731..f581d88bb 100644
--- a/kyaml/yaml/example_test.go
+++ b/kyaml/yaml/example_test.go
@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@ func ExampleElementMatcher_Filter_objectNotFound() {
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Fatal(err)
 	}
-	append, err := Parse(`
+	toAppend, err := Parse(`
 name: baz
 image: nginx
 `)
@@ -289,7 +289,7 @@ image: nginx
 		log.Fatal(err)
 	}
 	elem, err := obj.Pipe(ElementMatcher{
-		Keys: []string{"name"}, Values: []string{"baz"}, Create: append})
+		Keys: []string{"name"}, Values: []string{"baz"}, Create: toAppend})
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Fatal(err)
 	}
@@ -315,7 +315,7 @@ func ExampleElementMatcher_Filter_objectFound() {
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Fatal(err)
 	}
-	append, err := Parse(`
+	toAppend, err := Parse(`
 name: baz
 image: nginx
 `)
@@ -323,7 +323,7 @@ image: nginx
 		log.Fatal(err)
 	}
 	elem, err := obj.Pipe(ElementMatcher{
-		Keys: []string{"name"}, Values: []string{"baz"}, Create: append})
+		Keys: []string{"name"}, Values: []string{"baz"}, Create: toAppend})
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Fatal(err)
 	}
diff --git a/kyaml/yaml/fns.go b/kyaml/yaml/fns.go
index c4ab1fb53..c5ac0acfa 100644
--- a/kyaml/yaml/fns.go
+++ b/kyaml/yaml/fns.go
@@ -552,7 +552,6 @@ func (l PathGetter) getFilter(part, nextPart string, fieldPath *[]string) (Filte
 }
 
 func (l PathGetter) elemFilter(part string) (Filter, error) {
-	var match *RNode
 	name, value, err := SplitIndexNameValue(part)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, errors.Wrap(err)
@@ -567,10 +566,9 @@ func (l PathGetter) elemFilter(part string) (Filter, error) {
 		// append a ScalarNode
 		elem = NewScalarRNode(value)
 		elem.YNode().Style = l.Style
-		match = elem
 	} else {
 		// append a MappingNode
-		match = NewRNode(&yaml.Node{Kind: yaml.ScalarNode, Value: value, Style: l.Style})
+		match := NewRNode(&yaml.Node{Kind: yaml.ScalarNode, Value: value, Style: l.Style})
 		elem = NewRNode(&yaml.Node{
 			Kind:    yaml.MappingNode,
 			Content: []*yaml.Node{{Kind: yaml.ScalarNode, Value: name}, match.YNode()},
diff --git a/kyaml/yaml/fns_test.go b/kyaml/yaml/fns_test.go
index 0c6ed8c0b..8ad049e8e 100644
--- a/kyaml/yaml/fns_test.go
+++ b/kyaml/yaml/fns_test.go
@@ -23,19 +23,19 @@ c: d
 
 func TestResourceNode_SetValue(t *testing.T) {
 	instance := *NewScalarRNode("foo")
-	copy := instance
+	instanceCopy := instance
 	instance.SetYNode(&yaml.Node{Kind: yaml.ScalarNode, Value: "bar"})
 	assert.Equal(t, `bar
-`, assertNoErrorString(t)(copy.String()))
+`, assertNoErrorString(t)(instanceCopy.String()))
 	assert.Equal(t, `bar
 `, assertNoErrorString(t)(instance.String()))
 
 	instance = *NewScalarRNode("foo")
-	copy = instance
+	instanceCopy = instance
 	instance.SetYNode(nil)
 	instance.SetYNode(&yaml.Node{Kind: yaml.ScalarNode, Value: "bar"})
 	assert.Equal(t, `foo
-`, assertNoErrorString(t)(copy.String()))
+`, assertNoErrorString(t)(instanceCopy.String()))
 	assert.Equal(t, `bar
 `, assertNoErrorString(t)(instance.String()))
 }
@@ -1279,6 +1279,7 @@ metadata:
 }
 
 func assertNoError(t *testing.T) func(o *RNode, err error) *RNode {
+	t.Helper()
 	return func(o *RNode, err error) *RNode {
 		assert.NoError(t, err)
 		return o
@@ -1286,6 +1287,7 @@ func assertNoError(t *testing.T) func(o *RNode, err error) *RNode {
 }
 
 func assertNoErrorString(t *testing.T) func(string, error) string {
+	t.Helper()
 	return func(s string, err error) string {
 		assert.NoError(t, err)
 		return s
diff --git a/kyaml/yaml/kfns_test.go b/kyaml/yaml/kfns_test.go
index 371a7aea3..e26ff1194 100644
--- a/kyaml/yaml/kfns_test.go
+++ b/kyaml/yaml/kfns_test.go
@@ -74,8 +74,6 @@ data:
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("unexpected error %v", err)
 	}
-	output := rn.MustString()
-
 	expected := `apiVersion: v1
 kind: ConfigMap
 data:
@@ -84,7 +82,7 @@ metadata:
   labels:
     foo: 'bar'
 `
-	if output != expected {
+	if output := rn.MustString(); output != expected {
 		t.Fatalf("expected \n%s\nbut got \n%s\n", expected, output)
 	}
 }
@@ -102,7 +100,6 @@ data:
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("unexpected error %v", err)
 	}
-	output := rn.MustString()
 
 	expected := `apiVersion: v1
 kind: ConfigMap
@@ -114,7 +111,7 @@ data:
   altGreeting: "Good Morning!"
   enableRisky: "false"
 `
-	if output != expected {
+	if output := rn.MustString(); output != expected {
 		t.Fatalf("expected \n%s\nbut got \n%s\n", expected, output)
 	}
 }
diff --git a/kyaml/yaml/rnode_test.go b/kyaml/yaml/rnode_test.go
index 35b73ffdb..bb9398734 100644
--- a/kyaml/yaml/rnode_test.go
+++ b/kyaml/yaml/rnode_test.go
@@ -2180,8 +2180,7 @@ func TestRoundTripJSON(t *testing.T) {
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("unexpected MarshalJSON err: %v", err)
 	}
-	actual := string(data)
-	if actual != deploymentLittleJson {
+	if actual := string(data); actual != deploymentLittleJson {
 		t.Fatalf("expected %s, got %s", deploymentLittleJson, actual)
 	}
 }
diff --git a/kyaml/yaml/types_test.go b/kyaml/yaml/types_test.go
index ab2f4e465..7497a094d 100644
--- a/kyaml/yaml/types_test.go
+++ b/kyaml/yaml/types_test.go
@@ -32,8 +32,7 @@ func TestCopyYNode(t *testing.T) {
 		Line:        7000,
 		Column:      8000,
 	}
-	ynAddr := &yn
-	if !reflect.DeepEqual(&yn, ynAddr) {
+	if ynAddr := &yn; !reflect.DeepEqual(&yn, ynAddr) {
 		t.Fatalf("truly %v should equal %v", &yn, ynAddr)
 	}
 	ynC := CopyYNode(&yn)