diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 18c043e4..9bd25dc5 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -2,3 +2,5 @@ ostree_test
 ostree_test.h
 sample
 sample.h
+performance
+performance.h
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 9d494618..53e26199 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-all: sample ostree_test
+all: sample ostree_test performance
 
 sample.h: variant-schema-compiler sample.gv
 	./variant-schema-compiler --outfile sample.h --prefix=sample sample.gv
@@ -6,6 +6,12 @@ sample.h: variant-schema-compiler sample.gv
 sample: sample.c sample.h
 	gcc `pkg-config --cflags --libs glib-2.0` -g -Wall -o sample sample.c
 
+performance.h: variant-schema-compiler performance.gv
+	./variant-schema-compiler --outfile performance.h --prefix=performance performance.gv
+
+performance: performance.c performance.h
+	gcc `pkg-config --cflags --libs glib-2.0` -O2 -o performance performance.c
+
 ostree_test.h: variant-schema-compiler ostree.gv
 	./variant-schema-compiler --outfile ostree_test.h --prefix=ot ostree.gv
 
@@ -13,4 +19,4 @@ ostree_test: ostree_test.c ostree_test.h
 	gcc `pkg-config --cflags --libs glib-2.0` -g -Wall -o ostree_test ostree_test.c
 
 clean:
-	rm -f sample.h sample ostree_test.h ostree_test
+	rm -f sample.h sample performance.h performance ostree_test.h ostree_test
diff --git a/performance.c b/performance.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..70f19bf8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/performance.c
@@ -0,0 +1,127 @@
+#include "performance.h"
+
+gint32
+sum_gvariant (GVariant *v)
+{
+  guint32 sum;
+  gint16 a;
+  gint32 b;
+  const char *c;
+  GVariant *list;
+  guchar d;
+  guint16 tuple_a;
+  guchar tuple_b;
+  gsize len, i;
+  gint32 list_a;
+  guint16 list_b;
+
+  g_variant_get (v, "(ni&s@a(iq)y(qy))",
+                 &a, &b, &c, &list, &d, &tuple_a, &tuple_b);
+  sum = a + b + strlen(c) + d + tuple_a + tuple_b;
+
+  len = g_variant_n_children (list);
+  for (i = 0; i < len; i++)
+    {
+      g_variant_get_child (list, i, "(iq)", &list_a, &list_b);
+      sum += list_a + list_b;
+    }
+
+  return sum;
+}
+
+gint32
+sum_generated (PerformanceContainerRef v)
+{
+  guint32 sum;
+  PerformanceTupleRef tuple;
+  PerformanceListRef list;
+  PerformanceItemRef item;
+  gsize len, i;
+
+  tuple = performance_container_ref_get_tuple (v);
+  sum = performance_container_ref_get_a(v) +
+    performance_container_ref_get_b(v) +
+    strlen(performance_container_ref_get_c(v)) +
+    performance_container_ref_get_d(v) +
+    performance_tuple_ref_get_a (tuple) +
+    performance_tuple_ref_get_b (tuple);
+
+  list = performance_container_ref_get_list (v);
+  len = performance_list_ref_get_length (list);
+  for (i = 0; i < len; i++)
+    {
+     item = performance_list_ref_get_at (list, i);
+     sum += performance_item_ref_get_a (item) + performance_item_ref_get_b (item);
+    }
+
+  return sum;
+}
+
+
+int
+main (int argc,
+      char *argv[])
+{
+  GVariant *v;
+  gconstpointer serialized_data;
+  int i, count = 100000;
+  guint64 total;
+  GTimer *timer = g_timer_new ();
+  PerformanceContainerRef c;
+
+#define DATA "(int16 17, 32, 'foobar', [(44, uint16 12), (48, uint16 14), (99, uint16 100)], byte 128, (uint16 4, byte 11))"
+
+  v = g_variant_new_parsed (DATA);
+  g_assert (g_variant_type_equal (g_variant_get_type (v), PERFORMANCE_CONTAINER_TYPEFORMAT));
+
+  /* Ensure data is serialized */
+  serialized_data = g_variant_get_data (v);
+
+  /* Warmup */
+  total = 0;
+  for (i = 0; i < 10; i++)
+    total += sum_gvariant (v);
+  g_assert (total == 10 * 515);
+
+  total = 0;
+  g_timer_start (timer);
+  for (i = 0; i < count; i++)
+    {
+      total += sum_gvariant (v);
+      total += sum_gvariant (v);
+      total += sum_gvariant (v);
+      total += sum_gvariant (v);
+      total += sum_gvariant (v);
+    }
+  g_timer_stop (timer);
+  g_assert (total == 5 * count * 515);
+
+  g_print ("GVariant performance: %.1f kiloiterations per second\n", (count/1000.0)/g_timer_elapsed (timer, NULL));
+
+  c = performance_container_ref_from_variant (v);
+
+  /* Warmup */
+  total = 0;
+  for (i = 0; i < 10; i++)
+    total += sum_generated (c);
+  g_assert (total == 10 * 515);
+
+  g_timer_reset (timer);
+
+  total = 0;
+  g_timer_start (timer);
+  for (i = 0; i < count; i++)
+    {
+      total += sum_generated (c);
+      total += sum_generated (c);
+      total += sum_generated (c);
+      total += sum_generated (c);
+      total += sum_generated (c);
+    }
+  g_timer_stop (timer);
+  g_assert (total == 5 * count * 515);
+
+  g_print ("Generated performance: %.1f kiloiterations per second\n", (count/1000.0)/g_timer_elapsed (timer, NULL));
+
+  return 0;
+}
diff --git a/performance.gv b/performance.gv
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..15eb3925
--- /dev/null
+++ b/performance.gv
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+type Container {
+  a: int16;
+  b: int32;
+  c: string;
+  list: 'List [] 'Item {
+     a: int32;
+     b: uint16;
+  };
+  d: byte;
+  tuple : 'Tuple {
+    a: uint16;
+    b: byte;
+  };
+};