diff --git a/bin/pre-commit.sh b/bin/pre-commit.sh
index 5e0b45626..67edf1578 100755
--- a/bin/pre-commit.sh
+++ b/bin/pre-commit.sh
@@ -11,6 +11,10 @@ cd "$base_dir" || {
 
 rc=0
 
+function buildPlugins {
+go build -buildmode plugin -tags=plugin -o ./pkg/plugins/builtin/executable.so ./pkg/plugins/builtin/executable.go
+}
+
 function runTest {
   local name=$1
   local result="SUCCESS"
@@ -36,6 +40,7 @@ function testExamples {
   mdrip --mode test --label test README.md ./examples
 }
 
+runTest buildPlugins
 runTest testGoLangCILint
 runTest testGoTest
 runTest testExamples
diff --git a/pkg/plugins/builtin/executable.go b/pkg/plugins/builtin/executable.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f3114f472
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/plugins/builtin/executable.go
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+// +build plugin
+
+package main
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"os"
+	"os/exec"
+	"path/filepath"
+
+	"github.com/ghodss/yaml"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/pkg/ifc"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/pkg/pgmconfig"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/pkg/resmap"
+)
+
+type plugin struct {
+	name  string
+	input string
+	rf    *resmap.Factory
+}
+
+var KustomizePlugin plugin
+
+func (p *plugin) Config(
+	ldr ifc.Loader, rf *resmap.Factory, k ifc.Kunstructured) error {
+	dir := filepath.Join(pgmconfig.ConfigRoot(), "plugins")
+	id := k.GetGvk()
+	p.name = filepath.Join(dir, id.Group, id.Version, id.Kind)
+	content, err := yaml.Marshal(k)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	p.input = string(content)
+	p.rf = rf
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (p *plugin) Generate() (resmap.ResMap, error) {
+	return p.run(nil)
+}
+
+func (p *plugin) Transformer(rm resmap.ResMap) error {
+	result, err := p.run(rm)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	for id := range rm {
+		delete(rm, id)
+	}
+	for id, r := range result {
+		rm[id] = r
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (p *plugin) run(rm resmap.ResMap) (resmap.ResMap, error) {
+	cmd := exec.Command(p.name, p.input)
+	cmd.Env = os.Environ()
+	if rm != nil {
+		content, err := rm.EncodeAsYaml()
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		cmd.Stdin = bytes.NewReader(content)
+	}
+	output, err := cmd.Output()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return p.rf.NewResMapFromBytes(output)
+}
diff --git a/pkg/plugins/generators.go b/pkg/plugins/generators.go
index d40707e44..61ec5f156 100644
--- a/pkg/plugins/generators.go
+++ b/pkg/plugins/generators.go
@@ -47,14 +47,13 @@ func (l generatorLoader) Load(
 	}
 	var result []transformers.Generator
 	for id, res := range rm {
-		fileName := pluginFileName(l.pc, id)
-		c, err := loadAndConfigurePlugin(fileName, l.ldr, l.rf, res)
+		c, err := loadAndConfigurePlugin(l.pc.DirectoryPath, id, l.ldr, l.rf, res)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
 		g, ok := c.(transformers.Generator)
 		if !ok {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("plugin %s not a generator", fileName)
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("plugin %s not a generator", id.String())
 		}
 		result = append(result, g)
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/plugins/transformers.go b/pkg/plugins/transformers.go
index c691fb7e4..920446dd9 100644
--- a/pkg/plugins/transformers.go
+++ b/pkg/plugins/transformers.go
@@ -18,8 +18,10 @@ package plugins
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"plugin"
+	"runtime"
 
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	kplugin "sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/k8sdeps/kv/plugin"
@@ -57,29 +59,53 @@ func (l transformerLoader) Load(
 	}
 	var result []transformers.Transformer
 	for id, res := range rm {
-		fileName := pluginFileName(l.pc, id)
-		c, err := loadAndConfigurePlugin(fileName, l.ldr, l.rf, res)
+		c, err := loadAndConfigurePlugin(l.pc.DirectoryPath, id, l.ldr, l.rf, res)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
 		t, ok := c.(transformers.Transformer)
 		if !ok {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("plugin %s not a transformer", fileName)
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("plugin %s not a transformer", id.String())
 		}
 		result = append(result, t)
 	}
 	return result, nil
 }
 
-func pluginFileName(pc *types.PluginConfig, id resid.ResId) string {
+func goPluginFileName(dir string, id resid.ResId) string {
+	return execPluginFileName(dir, id) + ".so"
+}
+
+func execPluginFileName(dir string, id resid.ResId) string {
 	return filepath.Join(
-		pc.DirectoryPath,
-		id.Gvk().Group, id.Gvk().Version, id.Gvk().Kind+".so")
+		dir,
+		id.Gvk().Group, id.Gvk().Version, id.Gvk().Kind)
+}
+
+// isExecAvailable checks if an executable is available
+func isExecAvailable(name string) bool {
+	f, err := os.Stat(name)
+	if os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		return false
+	}
+	if f.Mode()&0111 != 0000 {
+		return true
+	}
+	return false
 }
 
 func loadAndConfigurePlugin(
-	fileName string, ldr ifc.Loader,
+	dir string, id resid.ResId,
+	ldr ifc.Loader,
 	rf *resmap.Factory, res *resource.Resource) (Configurable, error) {
+	var fileName string
+	exec := execPluginFileName(dir, id)
+	if isExecAvailable(exec) {
+		_, f, _, _ := runtime.Caller(1)
+		fileName = filepath.Join(filepath.Dir(f), "builtin", "executable.so")
+	} else {
+		fileName = goPluginFileName(dir, id)
+	}
 	goPlugin, err := plugin.Open(fileName)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, errors.Wrapf(err, "plugin %s fails to load", fileName)
diff --git a/pkg/target/generatorplugin_test.go b/pkg/target/generatorplugin_test.go
index 097417efd..d64d4ff02 100644
--- a/pkg/target/generatorplugin_test.go
+++ b/pkg/target/generatorplugin_test.go
@@ -127,3 +127,37 @@ metadata:
 type: Opaque
 `)
 }
+
+func TestConfigMapGenerator(t *testing.T) {
+	tc := NewTestEnvController(t).Set()
+	//defer tc.Reset()
+
+	tc.BuildExecPlugin(
+		"someteam.example.com", "v1", "ConfigMapGenerator")
+
+	th := NewKustTestHarnessWithPluginConfig(
+		t, "/app", plugin.ActivePluginConfig())
+	th.writeK("/app", `
+generators:
+- configmapGenerator.yaml
+`)
+	th.writeF("/app/configmapGenerator.yaml", `
+apiVersion: someteam.example.com/v1
+kind: ConfigMapGenerator
+metadata:
+  name: some-random-name
+`)
+	m, err := th.makeKustTarget().MakeCustomizedResMap()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Err: %v", err)
+	}
+	th.assertActualEqualsExpected(m, `
+apiVersion: v1
+data:
+  password: secret
+  username: admin
+kind: ConfigMap
+metadata:
+  name: example-configmap-test
+`)
+}
diff --git a/pkg/target/testenvcontroller_test.go b/pkg/target/testenvcontroller_test.go
index f68c182f1..58ed53d3c 100644
--- a/pkg/target/testenvcontroller_test.go
+++ b/pkg/target/testenvcontroller_test.go
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ package target_test
 import (
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"os"
+	"os/exec"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/k8sdeps/kv/plugin"
 	"testing"
@@ -57,6 +58,28 @@ func (x *TestEnvController) BuildGoPlugin(g, v, k string) {
 	}
 }
 
+func (x *TestEnvController) BuildExecPlugin(name ...string) {
+	obj := filepath.Join(
+		append([]string{x.workDir, pgmconfig.ProgramName, plugin.PluginRoot}, name...)...)
+
+	srcRoot, err := plugins.DefaultSrcRoot()
+	if err != nil {
+		x.t.Error(err)
+	}
+
+	src := filepath.Join(
+		append([]string{srcRoot}, name...)...)
+
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Dir(obj), 0755); err != nil {
+		x.t.Errorf("error making directory: %s", filepath.Dir(obj))
+	}
+	cmd := exec.Command("cp", src, obj)
+	cmd.Env = os.Environ()
+	if err := cmd.Run(); err != nil {
+		x.t.Errorf("error copying %s: %v", src, err)
+	}
+}
+
 func (x *TestEnvController) makeCompiler() *plugins.Compiler {
 	// The plugin loader wants to find object code under
 	//    $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/kustomize/plugins
diff --git a/plugins/someteam.example.com/v1/ConfigMapGenerator b/plugins/someteam.example.com/v1/ConfigMapGenerator
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..d0df0adaa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/someteam.example.com/v1/ConfigMapGenerator
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+echo "
+kind: ConfigMap
+apiVersion: v1
+metadata:
+  name: example-configmap-test
+data:
+  username: admin
+  password: secret
+"
\ No newline at end of file