diff --git a/base/compiler/tfuncs.jl b/base/compiler/tfuncs.jl
index d1df40f0471b0..d335995558d8f 100644
--- a/base/compiler/tfuncs.jl
+++ b/base/compiler/tfuncs.jl
@@ -527,6 +527,7 @@ add_tfunc(atomic_pointerset, 3, 3, (a, v, order) -> (@nospecialize; a), 5)
 add_tfunc(atomic_pointerswap, 3, 3, (a, v, order) -> (@nospecialize; pointer_eltype(a)), 5)
 add_tfunc(atomic_pointermodify, 4, 4, atomic_pointermodify_tfunc, 5)
 add_tfunc(atomic_pointerreplace, 5, 5, atomic_pointerreplace_tfunc, 5)
+add_tfunc(donotdelete, 0, INT_INF, (@nospecialize args...)->Nothing, 0)
 
 # more accurate typeof_tfunc for vararg tuples abstract only in length
 function typeof_concrete_vararg(t::DataType)
@@ -1697,6 +1698,8 @@ function _builtin_nothrow(@nospecialize(f), argtypes::Array{Any,1}, @nospecializ
         return false
     elseif f === Core.get_binding_type
         return length(argtypes) == 2
+    elseif f === donotdelete
+        return true
     end
     return false
 end
diff --git a/base/docs/basedocs.jl b/base/docs/basedocs.jl
index 3cbe180233d9c..131f0f26562cd 100644
--- a/base/docs/basedocs.jl
+++ b/base/docs/basedocs.jl
@@ -2897,4 +2897,39 @@ See also [`"`](@ref \")
 """
 kw"\"\"\""
 
+"""
+    donotdelete(args...)
+
+This function prevents dead-code elimination (DCE) of itself and any arguments
+passed to it, but is otherwise the lightest barrier possible. In particular,
+it is not a GC safepoint, does model an observable heap effect, does not expand
+to any code itself and may be re-ordered with respect to other side effects
+(though the total number of executions may not change).
+
+A useful model for this function is that it hashes all memory `reachable` from
+args and escapes this information through some observable side-channel that does
+not otherwise impact program behavior. Of course that's just a model. The
+function does nothing and returns `nothing`.
+
+This is intended for use in benchmarks that want to guarantee that `args` are
+actually computed. (Otherwise DCE may see that the result of the benchmark is
+unused and delete the entire benchmark code).
+
+**Note**: `donotdelete` does not affect constant folding. For example, in
+          `donotdelete(1+1)`, no add instruction needs to be executed at runtime and
+          the code is semantically equivalent to `donotdelete(2).`
+
+# Examples
+
+function loop()
+    for i = 1:1000
+        # The complier must guarantee that there are 1000 program points (in the correct
+        # order) at which the value of `i` is in a register, but has otherwise
+        # total control over the program.
+        donotdelete(i)
+    end
+end
+"""
+Base.donotdelete
+
 end
diff --git a/base/essentials.jl b/base/essentials.jl
index 1e4fea20bb4ae..c23294cb2c218 100644
--- a/base/essentials.jl
+++ b/base/essentials.jl
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # This file is a part of Julia. License is MIT: https://julialang.org/license
 
-using Core: CodeInfo, SimpleVector
+using Core: CodeInfo, SimpleVector, donotdelete
 
 const Callable = Union{Function,Type}
 
diff --git a/src/builtin_proto.h b/src/builtin_proto.h
index bc01c078de602..c7027f1b67f9e 100644
--- a/src/builtin_proto.h
+++ b/src/builtin_proto.h
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ DECLARE_BUILTIN(typeassert);
 DECLARE_BUILTIN(_typebody);
 DECLARE_BUILTIN(typeof);
 DECLARE_BUILTIN(_typevar);
+DECLARE_BUILTIN(donotdelete);
 
 JL_CALLABLE(jl_f_invoke_kwsorter);
 #ifdef DEFINE_BUILTIN_GLOBALS
@@ -67,6 +68,7 @@ JL_CALLABLE(jl_f__setsuper);
 JL_CALLABLE(jl_f__equiv_typedef);
 JL_CALLABLE(jl_f_get_binding_type);
 JL_CALLABLE(jl_f_set_binding_type);
+JL_CALLABLE(jl_f_donotdelete);
 
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
diff --git a/src/builtins.c b/src/builtins.c
index e2aa70af9a3d4..e78034446d19a 100644
--- a/src/builtins.c
+++ b/src/builtins.c
@@ -1484,6 +1484,11 @@ JL_CALLABLE(jl_f__setsuper)
     return jl_nothing;
 }
 
+JL_CALLABLE(jl_f_donotdelete)
+{
+    return jl_nothing;
+}
+
 static int equiv_field_types(jl_value_t *old, jl_value_t *ft)
 {
     size_t nf = jl_svec_len(ft);
@@ -1886,6 +1891,7 @@ void jl_init_primitives(void) JL_GC_DISABLED
     add_builtin_func("_equiv_typedef", jl_f__equiv_typedef);
     add_builtin_func("get_binding_type", jl_f_get_binding_type);
     add_builtin_func("set_binding_type!", jl_f_set_binding_type);
+    jl_builtin_donotdelete = add_builtin_func("donotdelete", jl_f_donotdelete);
 
     // builtin types
     add_builtin("Any", (jl_value_t*)jl_any_type);
diff --git a/src/codegen.cpp b/src/codegen.cpp
index 596693f3830f5..c754e7039b72b 100644
--- a/src/codegen.cpp
+++ b/src/codegen.cpp
@@ -473,6 +473,18 @@ static AttributeList get_func_attrs(LLVMContext &C)
             None);
 }
 
+static AttributeList get_donotdelete_func_attrs(LLVMContext &C)
+{
+    AttributeSet FnAttrs = AttributeSet::get(C, makeArrayRef({Attribute::get(C, "thunk")}));
+    FnAttrs.addAttribute(C, Attribute::InaccessibleMemOnly);
+    FnAttrs.addAttribute(C, Attribute::WillReturn);
+    FnAttrs.addAttribute(C, Attribute::NoUnwind);
+    return AttributeList::get(C,
+            FnAttrs,
+            Attributes(C, {Attribute::NonNull}),
+            None);
+}
+
 static AttributeList get_attrs_noreturn(LLVMContext &C)
 {
     return AttributeList::get(C,
@@ -3464,6 +3476,36 @@ static bool emit_builtin_call(jl_codectx_t &ctx, jl_cgval_t *ret, jl_value_t *f,
         return true;
     }
 
+    else if (f == jl_builtin_donotdelete) {
+        // For now we emit this as a vararg call to the builtin
+        // (which doesn't look at the arguments). In the future,
+        // this should be an LLVM builtin.
+        auto it = builtin_func_map.find(jl_f_donotdelete);
+        if (it == builtin_func_map.end()) {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        *ret = mark_julia_const(ctx, jl_nothing);
+        FunctionType *Fty = FunctionType::get(getVoidTy(ctx.builder.getContext()), true);
+        Function *dnd = prepare_call(it->second);
+        SmallVector<Value*, 1> call_args;
+
+        for (size_t i = 1; i <= nargs; ++i) {
+            const jl_cgval_t &obj = argv[i];
+            if (obj.V) {
+                // TODO is this strong enough to constitute a read of any contained
+                // pointers?
+                Value *V = obj.V;
+                if (obj.isboxed) {
+                    V = emit_pointer_from_objref(ctx, V);
+                }
+                call_args.push_back(V);
+            }
+        }
+        ctx.builder.CreateCall(Fty, dnd, call_args);
+        return true;
+    }
+
     return false;
 }
 
@@ -8133,6 +8175,7 @@ extern "C" void jl_init_llvm(void)
           { jl_f_arrayset_addr,           new JuliaFunction{XSTR(jl_f_arrayset), get_func_sig, get_func_attrs} },
           { jl_f_arraysize_addr,          new JuliaFunction{XSTR(jl_f_arraysize), get_func_sig, get_func_attrs} },
           { jl_f_apply_type_addr,         new JuliaFunction{XSTR(jl_f_apply_type), get_func_sig, get_func_attrs} },
+          { jl_f_donotdelete_addr,        new JuliaFunction{XSTR(jl_f_donotdelete), get_func_sig, get_donotdelete_func_attrs} }
         };
 
     jl_default_debug_info_kind = (int) DICompileUnit::DebugEmissionKind::FullDebug;
diff --git a/src/staticdata.c b/src/staticdata.c
index 28fbdce09d2d3..fb42d9cdf23f9 100644
--- a/src/staticdata.c
+++ b/src/staticdata.c
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ extern "C" {
 // TODO: put WeakRefs on the weak_refs list during deserialization
 // TODO: handle finalizers
 
-#define NUM_TAGS    152
+#define NUM_TAGS    153
 
 // An array of references that need to be restored from the sysimg
 // This is a manually constructed dual of the gvars array, which would be produced by codegen for Julia code, for C.
@@ -198,6 +198,7 @@ jl_value_t **const*const get_tags(void) {
         INSERT_TAG(jl_builtin__expr);
         INSERT_TAG(jl_builtin_ifelse);
         INSERT_TAG(jl_builtin__typebody);
+        INSERT_TAG(jl_builtin_donotdelete);
 
         // All optional tags must be placed at the end, so that we
         // don't accidentally have a `NULL` in the middle
@@ -252,7 +253,7 @@ static const jl_fptr_args_t id_to_fptrs[] = {
     &jl_f_applicable, &jl_f_invoke, &jl_f_sizeof, &jl_f__expr, &jl_f__typevar,
     &jl_f_ifelse, &jl_f__structtype, &jl_f__abstracttype, &jl_f__primitivetype,
     &jl_f__typebody, &jl_f__setsuper, &jl_f__equiv_typedef, &jl_f_get_binding_type,
-    &jl_f_set_binding_type, &jl_f_opaque_closure_call,
+    &jl_f_set_binding_type, &jl_f_opaque_closure_call, &jl_f_donotdelete,
     NULL };
 
 typedef struct {
diff --git a/test/compiler/codegen.jl b/test/compiler/codegen.jl
index 7469dc74c8156..ec89ac9cd72a4 100644
--- a/test/compiler/codegen.jl
+++ b/test/compiler/codegen.jl
@@ -711,3 +711,9 @@ end
 @test !cmp43123(Ref{Function}(+), Ref{Union{typeof(+), typeof(-)}}(-))
 @test cmp43123(Function[+], Union{typeof(+), typeof(-)}[+])
 @test !cmp43123(Function[+], Union{typeof(+), typeof(-)}[-])
+
+# Test that donotdelete survives through to LLVM time
+f_donotdelete_input(x) = Base.donotdelete(x+1)
+f_donotdelete_const() = Base.donotdelete(1+1)
+@test occursin("call void (...) @jl_f_donotdelete(i64", get_llvm(f_donotdelete_input, Tuple{Int64}, true, false, false))
+@test occursin("call void (...) @jl_f_donotdelete()", get_llvm(f_donotdelete_const, Tuple{}, true, false, false))
\ No newline at end of file