diff --git a/cpp/include/cudf/strings/detail/gather.cuh b/cpp/include/cudf/strings/detail/gather.cuh
index fcd74bebfe8..05a1de722fc 100644
--- a/cpp/include/cudf/strings/detail/gather.cuh
+++ b/cpp/include/cudf/strings/detail/gather.cuh
@@ -18,11 +18,13 @@
 #include <cudf/column/column.hpp>
 #include <cudf/column/column_device_view.cuh>
 #include <cudf/column/column_factories.hpp>
+#include <cudf/copying.hpp>
 #include <cudf/detail/offsets_iterator_factory.cuh>
 #include <cudf/detail/utilities/cuda.cuh>
 #include <cudf/strings/detail/strings_children.cuh>
 #include <cudf/strings/detail/utilities.hpp>
 #include <cudf/strings/strings_column_view.hpp>
+#include <cudf/utilities/prefetch.hpp>
 
 #include <rmm/cuda_stream_view.hpp>
 #include <rmm/exec_policy.hpp>
@@ -230,7 +232,8 @@ rmm::device_uvector<char> gather_chars(StringIterator strings_begin,
   if (output_count == 0) return rmm::device_uvector<char>(0, stream, mr);
 
   auto chars_data = rmm::device_uvector<char>(chars_bytes, stream, mr);
-  auto d_chars    = chars_data.data();
+  cudf::experimental::prefetch::detail::prefetch("prefetch", chars_data);
+  auto d_chars = chars_data.data();
 
   constexpr int warps_per_threadblock = 4;
   // String parallel strategy will be used if average string length is above this threshold.
@@ -312,6 +315,8 @@ std::unique_ptr<cudf::column> gather(strings_column_view const& strings,
   // build chars column
   auto const offsets_view =
     cudf::detail::offsetalator_factory::make_input_iterator(out_offsets_column->view());
+  cudf::experimental::prefetch::detail::prefetch(
+    "prefetch", strings.chars_begin(stream), strings.chars_size(stream));
   auto out_chars_data = gather_chars(
     d_strings->begin<string_view>(), begin, end, offsets_view, total_bytes, stream, mr);
 
diff --git a/cpp/include/cudf/strings/detail/strings_children.cuh b/cpp/include/cudf/strings/detail/strings_children.cuh
index f5f3982a5d6..fd75e7da547 100644
--- a/cpp/include/cudf/strings/detail/strings_children.cuh
+++ b/cpp/include/cudf/strings/detail/strings_children.cuh
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 #include <cudf/strings/detail/utilities.hpp>
 #include <cudf/strings/utilities.hpp>
 #include <cudf/utilities/default_stream.hpp>
+#include <cudf/utilities/prefetch.hpp>
 
 #include <rmm/cuda_stream_view.hpp>
 #include <rmm/exec_policy.hpp>
@@ -186,6 +187,7 @@ auto make_strings_children(SizeAndExecuteFunction size_and_exec_fn,
 
   // Now build the chars column
   rmm::device_uvector<char> chars(bytes, stream, mr);
+  cudf::experimental::prefetch::detail::prefetch("prefetch", chars);
   size_and_exec_fn.d_chars = chars.data();
 
   // Execute the function fn again to fill in the chars data.
diff --git a/cpp/include/cudf/utilities/prefetch.hpp b/cpp/include/cudf/utilities/prefetch.hpp
index d95649bb267..2efdd8e3b3b 100644
--- a/cpp/include/cudf/utilities/prefetch.hpp
+++ b/cpp/include/cudf/utilities/prefetch.hpp
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@
 
 #pragma once
 
+#include <rmm/device_uvector.hpp>
+
 #include <map>
 #include <string>
 #include <string_view>
@@ -82,6 +84,22 @@ class PrefetchConfig {
  */
 void prefetch(std::string_view key, void const* ptr, std::size_t size);
 
+/**
+ * @brief Prefetch the data in a device_uvector.
+ *
+ * @note At present this function does not support stream-ordered execution. Prefetching always
+ * occurs on the default stream.
+ *
+ * @param key The key to enable prefetching for.
+ * @param v The device_uvector to prefetch.
+ */
+template <typename T>
+void prefetch(std::string_view key, rmm::device_uvector<T> const& v)
+{
+  if (v.is_empty()) { return; }
+  prefetch(key, v.data(), v.size());
+}
+
 }  // namespace detail
 
 /**