diff --git a/src/build_queue.rs b/src/build_queue.rs
index 2ed1047bf..a9d2c7020 100644
--- a/src/build_queue.rs
+++ b/src/build_queue.rs
@@ -164,10 +164,7 @@ impl BuildQueue {
             .is_some())
     }
 
-    pub(crate) fn process_next_crate(
-        &self,
-        f: impl FnOnce(&QueuedCrate) -> Result<()>,
-    ) -> Result<()> {
+    fn process_next_crate(&self, f: impl FnOnce(&QueuedCrate) -> Result<()>) -> Result<()> {
         let mut conn = self.db.get()?;
         let mut transaction = conn.transaction()?;
 
@@ -198,11 +195,13 @@ impl BuildQueue {
             None => return Ok(()),
         };
 
-        let res = f(&to_process).with_context(|| {
-            format!(
-                "Failed to build package {}-{} from queue",
-                to_process.name, to_process.version
-            )
+        let res = self.metrics.build_time.observe_closure_duration(|| {
+            f(&to_process).with_context(|| {
+                format!(
+                    "Failed to build package {}-{} from queue",
+                    to_process.name, to_process.version
+                )
+            })
         });
         self.metrics.total_builds.inc();
         if let Err(err) =
@@ -631,6 +630,7 @@ mod tests {
             let metrics = env.instance_metrics();
             assert_eq!(metrics.total_builds.get(), 9);
             assert_eq!(metrics.failed_builds.get(), 1);
+            assert_eq!(metrics.build_time.get_sample_count(), 9);
 
             // no invalidations were run since we don't have a distribution id configured
             assert!(cdn::queued_or_active_crate_invalidations(&mut *env.db().conn())?.is_empty());
diff --git a/src/metrics/macros.rs b/src/metrics/macros.rs
index e4b7ec6f7..479300034 100644
--- a/src/metrics/macros.rs
+++ b/src/metrics/macros.rs
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ macro_rules! metrics {
             pub(crate) recently_accessed_releases: RecentlyAccessedReleases,
             pub(crate) cdn_invalidation_time: prometheus::HistogramVec,
             pub(crate) cdn_queue_time: prometheus::HistogramVec,
+            pub(crate) build_time: prometheus::Histogram,
         }
         impl $name {
             $vis fn new() -> Result<Self, prometheus::Error> {
@@ -61,11 +62,22 @@ macro_rules! metrics {
                 )?;
                 registry.register(Box::new(cdn_queue_time.clone()))?;
 
+                let build_time = prometheus::Histogram::with_opts(
+                    prometheus::HistogramOpts::new(
+                        "build_time",
+                        "time spent building crates",
+                    )
+                    .namespace($namespace)
+                    .buckets($crate::metrics::build_time_histogram_buckets()),
+                )?;
+                registry.register(Box::new(build_time.clone()))?;
+
                 Ok(Self {
                     registry,
                     recently_accessed_releases: RecentlyAccessedReleases::new(),
                     cdn_invalidation_time,
                     cdn_queue_time,
+                    build_time,
                     $(
                         $(#[$meta])*
                         $metric,
diff --git a/src/metrics/mod.rs b/src/metrics/mod.rs
index 2358899c2..a172db721 100644
--- a/src/metrics/mod.rs
+++ b/src/metrics/mod.rs
@@ -30,11 +30,38 @@ pub const CDN_INVALIDATION_HISTOGRAM_BUCKETS: &[f64; 11] = &[
     1200.0,  // 20
     1800.0,  // 30
     2700.0,  // 45
-    6000.0,  // 60
-    12000.0, // 120
-    24000.0, // 240
+    6000.0,  // 100
+    12000.0, // 200
+    24000.0, // 400
 ];
 
+/// the measured times of building crates will be put into these buckets
+pub fn build_time_histogram_buckets() -> Vec<f64> {
+    vec![
+        30.0,   // 0.5
+        60.0,   // 1
+        120.0,  // 2
+        180.0,  // 3
+        240.0,  // 4
+        300.0,  // 5
+        360.0,  // 6
+        420.0,  // 7
+        480.0,  // 8
+        540.0,  // 9
+        600.0,  // 10
+        660.0,  // 11
+        720.0,  // 12
+        780.0,  // 13
+        840.0,  // 14
+        900.0,  // 15
+        1200.0, // 20
+        1800.0, // 30
+        2400.0, // 40
+        3000.0, // 50
+        3600.0, // 60
+    ]
+}
+
 metrics! {
     pub struct InstanceMetrics {
         /// The number of idle database connections