diff --git a/test/cpp/microbenchmarks/bm_pollset.cc b/test/cpp/microbenchmarks/bm_pollset.cc
index 9d7fac39c77..da06eae5078 100644
--- a/test/cpp/microbenchmarks/bm_pollset.cc
+++ b/test/cpp/microbenchmarks/bm_pollset.cc
@@ -35,10 +35,13 @@
 
 #include <grpc/grpc.h>
 #include <grpc/support/alloc.h>
+#include <grpc/support/log.h>
+#include <grpc/support/useful.h>
 
 extern "C" {
 #include "src/core/lib/iomgr/ev_posix.h"
 #include "src/core/lib/iomgr/pollset.h"
+#include "src/core/lib/iomgr/port.h"
 #include "src/core/lib/iomgr/wakeup_fd_posix.h"
 }
 
@@ -47,6 +50,12 @@ extern "C" {
 
 #include <string.h>
 
+#ifdef GRPC_LINUX_MULTIPOLL_WITH_EPOLL
+#include <sys/epoll.h>
+#include <sys/eventfd.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+#endif
+
 auto& force_library_initialization = Library::get();
 
 static void shutdown_ps(grpc_exec_ctx* exec_ctx, void* ps, grpc_error* error) {
@@ -76,6 +85,46 @@ static void BM_CreateDestroyPollset(benchmark::State& state) {
 }
 BENCHMARK(BM_CreateDestroyPollset);
 
+#ifdef GRPC_LINUX_MULTIPOLL_WITH_EPOLL
+static void BM_PollEmptyPollset_SpeedOfLight(benchmark::State& state) {
+  // equivalent to BM_PollEmptyPollset, but just use the OS primitives to guage
+  // what the speed of light would be if we abstracted perfectly
+  TrackCounters track_counters;
+  int epfd = epoll_create1(0);
+  GPR_ASSERT(epfd != -1);
+  size_t nev = state.range(0);
+  size_t nfd = state.range(1);
+  epoll_event* ev = new epoll_event[nev];
+  std::vector<int> fds;
+  for (size_t i = 0; i < nfd; i++) {
+    fds.push_back(eventfd(0, 0));
+    epoll_event ev;
+    ev.events = EPOLLIN;
+    epoll_ctl(epfd, EPOLL_CTL_ADD, fds.back(), &ev);
+  }
+  while (state.KeepRunning()) {
+    epoll_wait(epfd, ev, nev, 0);
+  }
+  for (auto fd : fds) {
+    close(fd);
+  }
+  close(epfd);
+  delete[] ev;
+  track_counters.Finish(state);
+}
+BENCHMARK(BM_PollEmptyPollset_SpeedOfLight)
+    ->Args({1, 0})
+    ->Args({1, 1})
+    ->Args({1, 10})
+    ->Args({1, 100})
+    ->Args({1, 1000})
+    ->Args({1, 10000})
+    ->Args({1, 100000})
+    ->Args({10, 1})
+    ->Args({100, 1})
+    ->Args({1000, 1});
+#endif
+
 static void BM_PollEmptyPollset(benchmark::State& state) {
   TrackCounters track_counters;
   size_t ps_sz = grpc_pollset_size();
@@ -115,7 +164,41 @@ grpc_closure* MakeClosure(F f, grpc_closure_scheduler* scheduler) {
   return new C(f, scheduler);
 }
 
-static void BM_PollAfterWakeup(benchmark::State& state) {
+#ifdef GRPC_LINUX_MULTIPOLL_WITH_EPOLL
+static void BM_SingleThreadPollOneFd_SpeedOfLight(benchmark::State& state) {
+  // equivalent to BM_PollEmptyPollset, but just use the OS primitives to guage
+  // what the speed of light would be if we abstracted perfectly
+  TrackCounters track_counters;
+  int epfd = epoll_create1(0);
+  GPR_ASSERT(epfd != -1);
+  epoll_event ev[100];
+  int fd = eventfd(0, EFD_NONBLOCK);
+  ev[0].events = EPOLLIN;
+  epoll_ctl(epfd, EPOLL_CTL_ADD, fd, &ev[0]);
+  while (state.KeepRunning()) {
+    int err;
+    do {
+      err = eventfd_write(fd, 1);
+    } while (err < 0 && errno == EINTR);
+    GPR_ASSERT(err == 0);
+    do {
+      err = epoll_wait(epfd, ev, GPR_ARRAY_SIZE(ev), 0);
+    } while (err < 0 && errno == EINTR);
+    GPR_ASSERT(err == 1);
+    eventfd_t value;
+    do {
+      err = eventfd_read(fd, &value);
+    } while (err < 0 && errno == EINTR);
+    GPR_ASSERT(err == 0);
+  }
+  close(fd);
+  close(epfd);
+  track_counters.Finish(state);
+}
+BENCHMARK(BM_SingleThreadPollOneFd_SpeedOfLight);
+#endif
+
+static void BM_SingleThreadPollOneFd(benchmark::State& state) {
   TrackCounters track_counters;
   size_t ps_sz = grpc_pollset_size();
   grpc_pollset* ps = static_cast<grpc_pollset*>(gpr_zalloc(ps_sz));
@@ -159,6 +242,6 @@ static void BM_PollAfterWakeup(benchmark::State& state) {
   gpr_free(ps);
   track_counters.Finish(state);
 }
-BENCHMARK(BM_PollAfterWakeup);
+BENCHMARK(BM_SingleThreadPollOneFd);
 
 BENCHMARK_MAIN();