diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 884a02271..c68c28cd6 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -229,6 +229,20 @@ $(MYGOBIN)/helm:
 		rm -rf $$d \
 	)
 
+.PHONY: build-external-go-plugins
+build-external-go-plugins:
+	( \
+		cd plugin; \
+		../hack/buildExternalGoPlugins.sh; \
+	)
+
+.PHONY: clean-external-go-plugins
+clean-external-go-plugins:
+	( \
+		cd plugin; \
+		../hack/buildExternalGoPlugins.sh clean; \
+	)
+
 .PHONY: clean
 clean:
 	go clean --cache
diff --git a/hack/buildExternalGoPlugins.sh b/hack/buildExternalGoPlugins.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..1e1cde5f9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hack/buildExternalGoPlugins.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env sh
+set -e
+
+# We assume one go file per plugin, and the desired name of the plugin .so
+# matches the basename of said go file.
+# Example: ReplacementTransformer.go -> ReplacementTransformer.so
+#
+# We also assume the script is run from a kustomize plugin directory.
+# Usually one of:
+#   - ${HOME}/.config/kustomize/plugin
+#   - ${kustomize_git_repo}/plugin
+plugins_dir="${PWD}"
+command="${1}"
+
+function buildPlugin {
+  pushd "${1}" >& /dev/null
+  plugin_src="$(find "${1}" -name '*.go'|grep -Ev '.*_test.go'|head -n1)"
+  plugin_bin="$(echo "${plugin_src}"|sed 's/\(.*\).go/\1.so/')"
+  if [ "${command}" = "clean" ]; then
+    echo "Deleting ${plugin_bin}"
+    rm -f "${plugin_bin}"
+    return
+  fi
+  echo "Building ${plugin_bin}"
+  go build -buildmode plugin -o "${plugin_bin}" "${plugin_src}"
+  popd >& /dev/null
+}
+
+for goMod in $(find "${plugins_dir}" -name 'go.mod'); do
+  d=$(dirname "${goMod}")
+  # Skip "builtin" plugins in kustomize repo.
+  if [ ! -z "$(echo "${goMod}" | grep -F "/plugin/builtin/")" ]; then
+    continue
+  fi
+  # Skip plugins with only test Go files.
+  if [ -z "$(find "${d}" -maxdepth 1 -name '*.go' | grep -Ev ".*_test.go")" ]; then
+    continue
+  fi
+  buildPlugin "${d}"
+done