diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/labels/selector.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/labels/selector.go
index e5f1a8264038..ab12f7c2f32d 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/labels/selector.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/labels/selector.go
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ limitations under the License.
 package labels
 
 import (
-	"bytes"
 	"fmt"
 	"sort"
 	"strconv"
@@ -274,48 +273,55 @@ func (s internalSelector) Empty() bool {
 // Requirement. If called on an invalid Requirement, an error is
 // returned. See NewRequirement for creating a valid Requirement.
 func (r *Requirement) String() string {
-	var buffer bytes.Buffer
+	var sb strings.Builder
+	sb.Grow(
+		// length of r.key
+		len(r.key) +
+			// length of 'r.operator' + 2 spaces for the worst case ('in' and 'notin')
+			len(r.operator) + 2 +
+			// length of 'r.strValues' slice times. Heuristically 5 chars per word
+			+5*len(r.strValues))
 	if r.operator == selection.DoesNotExist {
-		buffer.WriteString("!")
+		sb.WriteString("!")
 	}
-	buffer.WriteString(r.key)
+	sb.WriteString(r.key)
 
 	switch r.operator {
 	case selection.Equals:
-		buffer.WriteString("=")
+		sb.WriteString("=")
 	case selection.DoubleEquals:
-		buffer.WriteString("==")
+		sb.WriteString("==")
 	case selection.NotEquals:
-		buffer.WriteString("!=")
+		sb.WriteString("!=")
 	case selection.In:
-		buffer.WriteString(" in ")
+		sb.WriteString(" in ")
 	case selection.NotIn:
-		buffer.WriteString(" notin ")
+		sb.WriteString(" notin ")
 	case selection.GreaterThan:
-		buffer.WriteString(">")
+		sb.WriteString(">")
 	case selection.LessThan:
-		buffer.WriteString("<")
+		sb.WriteString("<")
 	case selection.Exists, selection.DoesNotExist:
-		return buffer.String()
+		return sb.String()
 	}
 
 	switch r.operator {
 	case selection.In, selection.NotIn:
-		buffer.WriteString("(")
+		sb.WriteString("(")
 	}
 	if len(r.strValues) == 1 {
-		buffer.WriteString(r.strValues[0])
+		sb.WriteString(r.strValues[0])
 	} else { // only > 1 since == 0 prohibited by NewRequirement
 		// normalizes value order on output, without mutating the in-memory selector representation
 		// also avoids normalization when it is not required, and ensures we do not mutate shared data
-		buffer.WriteString(strings.Join(safeSort(r.strValues), ","))
+		sb.WriteString(strings.Join(safeSort(r.strValues), ","))
 	}
 
 	switch r.operator {
 	case selection.In, selection.NotIn:
-		buffer.WriteString(")")
+		sb.WriteString(")")
 	}
-	return buffer.String()
+	return sb.String()
 }
 
 // safeSort sorts input strings without modification
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/labels/selector_test.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/labels/selector_test.go
index aa3fb2e54bcb..f2cb7f8941a8 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/labels/selector_test.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/labels/selector_test.go
@@ -738,3 +738,21 @@ func TestValidatedSelectorFromSet(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+func BenchmarkRequirementString(b *testing.B) {
+	r := Requirement{
+		key:      "environment",
+		operator: selection.NotIn,
+		strValues: []string{
+			"dev",
+		},
+	}
+
+	b.ReportAllocs()
+	b.ResetTimer()
+	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+		if r.String() != "environment notin (dev)" {
+			b.Errorf("Unexpected Requirement string")
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/net/http.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/net/http.go
index ba63d02df69a..567a294e26c3 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/net/http.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/net/http.go
@@ -693,7 +693,7 @@ func parseQuotedString(quotedString string) (string, string, error) {
 	var remainder string
 	escaping := false
 	closedQuote := false
-	result := &bytes.Buffer{}
+	result := &strings.Builder{}
 loop:
 	for i := 0; i < len(quotedString); i++ {
 		b := quotedString[i]
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/net/http_test.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/net/http_test.go
index a43161b88b76..9411bfa7ddf7 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/net/http_test.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/net/http_test.go
@@ -1107,3 +1107,21 @@ func TestPingTimeoutSeconds(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	reset()
 }
+
+func Benchmark_ParseQuotedString(b *testing.B) {
+	str := `"The quick brown" fox jumps over the lazy dog`
+	b.ReportAllocs()
+	b.ResetTimer()
+	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+		quoted, remainder, err := parseQuotedString(str)
+		if err != nil {
+			b.Errorf("Unexpected error %s", err)
+		}
+		if quoted != "The quick brown" {
+			b.Errorf("Unexpected quoted string %s", quoted)
+		}
+		if remainder != "fox jumps over the lazy dog" {
+			b.Errorf("Unexpected remainder string %s", quoted)
+		}
+	}
+}