diff --git a/benches/parse.rs b/benches/parse.rs
index aa29db6..a96873c 100644
--- a/benches/parse.rs
+++ b/benches/parse.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 use criterion::{criterion_group, criterion_main, Criterion};
-use std::io::Write;
+use n2::parse::Loader;
+use std::{io::Write, path::PathBuf, str::FromStr};
 
 pub fn bench_canon(c: &mut Criterion) {
     // TODO switch to canon_path_fast
@@ -31,6 +32,7 @@ impl n2::parse::Loader for NoOpLoader {
 
 fn generate_build_ninja() -> Vec<u8> {
     let mut buf: Vec<u8> = Vec::new();
+    write!(buf, "rule cc\n    command = touch $out",).unwrap();
     for i in 0..1000 {
         write!(
             buf,
@@ -85,5 +87,18 @@ pub fn bench_parse(c: &mut Criterion) {
     };
 }
 
-criterion_group!(benches, bench_canon, bench_parse);
+fn bench_load_synthetic(c: &mut Criterion) {
+    let mut input = generate_build_ninja();
+    input.push(0);
+    c.bench_function("load synthetic build.ninja", |b| {
+        b.iter(|| {
+            let mut loader = n2::load::Loader::new();
+            loader
+                .parse(PathBuf::from_str("build.ninja").unwrap(), &input)
+                .unwrap();
+        })
+    });
+}
+
+criterion_group!(benches, bench_canon, bench_parse, bench_load_synthetic);
 criterion_main!(benches);
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 50e258f..fea575a 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ mod depfile;
 mod eval;
 mod graph;
 mod hash;
-mod load;
+pub mod load;
 pub mod parse;
 mod process;
 #[cfg(unix)]
diff --git a/src/load.rs b/src/load.rs
index 51c4c6f..bf23f5f 100644
--- a/src/load.rs
+++ b/src/load.rs
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ impl<'a> eval::Env for BuildImplicitVars<'a> {
 
 /// Internal state used while loading.
 #[derive(Default)]
-struct Loader {
+pub struct Loader {
     graph: graph::Graph,
     default: Vec<FileId>,
     /// rule name -> list of (key, val)
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ impl parse::Loader for Loader {
 }
 
 impl Loader {
-    fn new() -> Self {
+    pub fn new() -> Self {
         let mut loader = Loader::default();
 
         loader.rules.insert("phony".to_owned(), SmallMap::default());
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ impl Loader {
         self.parse(path, &bytes)
     }
 
-    fn parse(&mut self, path: PathBuf, bytes: &[u8]) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
+    pub fn parse(&mut self, path: PathBuf, bytes: &[u8]) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
         let filename = std::rc::Rc::new(path);
 
         let mut parser = parse::Parser::new(&bytes);