diff --git a/pkg/client/patch.go b/pkg/client/patch.go
index c32a06c06d..07ef3e2d59 100644
--- a/pkg/client/patch.go
+++ b/pkg/client/patch.go
@@ -96,8 +96,42 @@ func (s *mergeFromPatch) Type() types.PatchType {
 	return types.MergePatchType
 }
 
+func (*mergeFromPatch) data(original, modified Object, opts MergeFromOptions) ([]byte, error) {
+	if opts.OptimisticLock {
+		version := original.GetResourceVersion()
+		if len(version) == 0 {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("cannot use OptimisticLock, object %q does not have any resource version we can use", original)
+		}
+
+		original = original.DeepCopyObject().(Object)
+		original.SetResourceVersion("")
+
+		modified = modified.DeepCopyObject().(Object)
+		modified.SetResourceVersion(version)
+	}
+
+	originalJSON, err := json.Marshal(original)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	modifiedJSON, err := json.Marshal(modified)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	return jsonpatch.CreateMergePatch(originalJSON, modifiedJSON)
+}
+
 // Data implements Patch.
 func (s *mergeFromPatch) Data(obj runtime.Object) ([]byte, error) {
+	fromObject, fromOk := s.from.(Object)
+	objObject, objOk := obj.(Object)
+
+	if fromOk && objOk {
+		return s.data(fromObject, objObject, s.opts)
+	}
+
 	originalJSON, err := json.Marshal(s.from)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
diff --git a/pkg/client/patch_test.go b/pkg/client/patch_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7f86d2357a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/client/patch_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2021 The Kubernetes Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package client
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	appsv1 "k8s.io/api/apps/v1"
+	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/resource"
+)
+
+func BenchmarkMergeFrom(b *testing.B) {
+	cm1 := &corev1.ConfigMap{}
+	cm1.SetGroupVersionKind(corev1.SchemeGroupVersion.WithKind("ConfigMap"))
+	cm1.ResourceVersion = "anything"
+
+	cm2 := cm1.DeepCopy()
+	cm2.Data = map[string]string{"key": "value"}
+
+	sts1 := &appsv1.StatefulSet{}
+	sts1.SetGroupVersionKind(appsv1.SchemeGroupVersion.WithKind("StatefulSet"))
+	sts1.ResourceVersion = "somesuch"
+
+	sts2 := sts1.DeepCopy()
+	sts2.Spec.Template.Spec.Containers = []corev1.Container{{
+		Resources: corev1.ResourceRequirements{
+			Requests: map[corev1.ResourceName]resource.Quantity{
+				corev1.ResourceCPU:    resource.MustParse("1m"),
+				corev1.ResourceMemory: resource.MustParse("1M"),
+			},
+		},
+		ReadinessProbe: &corev1.Probe{
+			Handler: corev1.Handler{
+				HTTPGet: &corev1.HTTPGetAction{},
+			},
+		},
+		Lifecycle: &corev1.Lifecycle{
+			PreStop: &corev1.Handler{
+				HTTPGet: &corev1.HTTPGetAction{},
+			},
+		},
+		SecurityContext: &corev1.SecurityContext{},
+	}}
+
+	b.Run("NoOptions", func(b *testing.B) {
+		cmPatch := MergeFrom(cm1)
+		if _, err := cmPatch.Data(cm2); err != nil {
+			b.Fatalf("expected no error, got %v", err)
+		}
+
+		stsPatch := MergeFrom(sts1)
+		if _, err := stsPatch.Data(sts2); err != nil {
+			b.Fatalf("expected no error, got %v", err)
+		}
+
+		b.ResetTimer()
+		for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+			_, _ = cmPatch.Data(cm2)
+			_, _ = stsPatch.Data(sts2)
+		}
+	})
+
+	b.Run("WithOptimisticLock", func(b *testing.B) {
+		cmPatch := MergeFromWithOptions(cm1, MergeFromWithOptimisticLock{})
+		if _, err := cmPatch.Data(cm2); err != nil {
+			b.Fatalf("expected no error, got %v", err)
+		}
+
+		stsPatch := MergeFromWithOptions(sts1, MergeFromWithOptimisticLock{})
+		if _, err := stsPatch.Data(sts2); err != nil {
+			b.Fatalf("expected no error, got %v", err)
+		}
+
+		b.ResetTimer()
+		for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+			_, _ = cmPatch.Data(cm2)
+			_, _ = stsPatch.Data(sts2)
+		}
+	})
+}