diff --git a/bin/carto b/bin/carto
index a789781e8..c92b553f1 100755
--- a/bin/carto
+++ b/bin/carto
@@ -11,16 +11,17 @@ var existsSync = require('fs').existsSync || require('path').existsSync
 
 var yargs = require('yargs')
             .usage("Usage: $0 <source MML file>")
-            .options('h', {alias:'help', describe:'Display this help message'})
-            .options('v', {alias:'version', boolean:true, describe:'Display version information'})
+            .options('a', {alias:'api', describe:'Specify Mapnik API version'})
             .options('b', {alias:'benchmark', boolean:true, describe:'Outputs total compile time'})
+            .options('f', {alias:'file', describe:'Outputs to the given file instead of stdout.'})
+            .options('h', {alias:'help', describe:'Display this help message'})
             .options('l', {alias:'localize', boolean:true, default:false, describe:'Use millstone to localize resources when loading an MML'})
             .options('n', {alias:'nosymlink', boolean:true, describe:'Use absolute paths instead of symlinking files'})
-            .options('a', {alias:'api', describe:'Specify Mapnik API version'})
-            .options('f', {alias:'file', describe:'Outputs to the given file instead of stdout.'})
             .options('o', {alias:'output', describe:'Specify output format (mapnik, json)', default:'mapnik'})
+            .options('p', {alias:'profile', boolean:true, default:false, describe:'Generate v8 profile data that can be loaded in chromium/chrome\'s profiler for inspection.'})
             .options('q', {alias:'quiet', boolean:true, default:false, describe:'Do not output any warnings'})
-            .options('ppi', {describe:'Pixels per inch used to convert m, mm, cm, in, pt, pc to pixels', default:90.714});
+            .options('ppi', {describe:'Pixels per inch used to convert m, mm, cm, in, pt, pc to pixels', default:90.714})
+            .options('v', {alias:'version', boolean:true, describe:'Display version information'});
 
 var options = yargs.argv;
 
@@ -67,6 +68,11 @@ try {
     process.exit(1);
 }
 
+if (options.profile) {
+    var profiler = require('v8-profiler');
+    profiler.startProfiling('carto');
+}
+
 if (ext === '.mml') {
     var mml = new carto.MML(options);
     mml.load(path.dirname(input), data, compile);
@@ -76,6 +82,14 @@ if (ext === '.mml') {
     console.error("carto: please pass either a .mml file or .mss file");
 }
 
+if (options.profile) {
+    var profile = profiler.stopProfiling('carto');
+
+    profile.export(function(error, result) {
+        fs.writeFileSync('carto.cpuprofile', result);
+        profile.delete();
+    })
+}
 
 function compile(err, data) {
     if (err) {
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index cac7f9a41..def318740 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -42,11 +42,17 @@
     "yargs": "~8.0.1"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
+    "core-util-is": "^1.0.2",
     "coveralls": "~2.13.1",
+    "inherits": "^2.0.3",
     "istanbul": "~0.4.5",
     "mocha": "~3.4.1",
     "mocha-eslint": "^4.0.0",
-    "sax": "~1.2.1"
+    "npm": "^5.3.0",
+    "readable-stream": "^2.3.3",
+    "sax": "~1.2.1",
+    "util-deprecate": "^1.0.2",
+    "v8-profiler": "^5.7.0"
   },
   "scripts": {
     "pretest": "npm install && mocha -R spec --timeout 50000 -f jslint",