diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 21e22ff6c..2f5773e64 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ $(MYGOBIN)/resource:
 #   cd api;
 #   go install sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/pluginator/v2
 $(MYGOBIN)/pluginator:
-	cd pluginator; \
+	cd cmd/pluginator; \
 	go install .
 
 # Install kustomize from whatever is checked out.
@@ -190,8 +190,8 @@ lint-kustomize: install-tools $(builtinplugins)
 	$(MYGOBIN)/golangci-lint-kustomize -c ../.golangci-kustomize.yml run ./...
 	cd kustomize; \
 	$(MYGOBIN)/golangci-lint-kustomize -c ../.golangci-kustomize.yml run ./...
-	cd pluginator; \
-	$(MYGOBIN)/golangci-lint-kustomize -c ../.golangci-kustomize.yml run ./...
+	cd cmd/pluginator; \
+	$(MYGOBIN)/golangci-lint-kustomize -c ../../.golangci-kustomize.yml run ./...
 
 # Used to add non-default compilation flags when experimenting with
 # plugin-to-api compatibility checks.
diff --git a/api/internal/tools/tools.go b/api/internal/tools/tools.go
index 7be4ef948..77ee02506 100644
--- a/api/internal/tools/tools.go
+++ b/api/internal/tools/tools.go
@@ -21,5 +21,5 @@ import (
 	// major version increments in pluginator with each
 	// api release to allow this trick to work and not
 	// introduce cycles.
-	// _ "sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/pluginator/v2"
+	// _ "sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/cmd/pluginator/v2"
 )
diff --git a/pluginator/go.mod b/cmd/pluginator/go.mod
similarity index 63%
rename from pluginator/go.mod
rename to cmd/pluginator/go.mod
index e31fe4139..f61168f71 100644
--- a/pluginator/go.mod
+++ b/cmd/pluginator/go.mod
@@ -4,4 +4,4 @@ go 1.14
 
 require sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/api v0.6.3
 
-replace sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/api v0.6.3 => ../api
+replace sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/api v0.6.3 => ../../api
diff --git a/pluginator/go.sum b/cmd/pluginator/go.sum
similarity index 100%
rename from pluginator/go.sum
rename to cmd/pluginator/go.sum
diff --git a/pluginator/main.go b/cmd/pluginator/main.go
similarity index 100%
rename from pluginator/main.go
rename to cmd/pluginator/main.go
diff --git a/pluginator/plugintype_string.go b/cmd/pluginator/plugintype_string.go
similarity index 100%
rename from pluginator/plugintype_string.go
rename to cmd/pluginator/plugintype_string.go