diff --git a/cpp/benchmarks/CMakeLists.txt b/cpp/benchmarks/CMakeLists.txt
index 004a9b22826..4c8ac4165fe 100644
--- a/cpp/benchmarks/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cpp/benchmarks/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -308,6 +308,7 @@ set(STRINGS_BENCH_SRC
   "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/string/case_benchmark.cpp"
   "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/string/contains_benchmark.cpp"
   "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/string/convert_durations_benchmark.cpp"
+  "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/string/find_benchmark.cpp"
   "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/string/replace_benchmark.cpp"
   "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/string/url_decode_benchmark.cpp")
 
diff --git a/cpp/benchmarks/string/find_benchmark.cpp b/cpp/benchmarks/string/find_benchmark.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..200527d606e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cpp/benchmarks/string/find_benchmark.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2021, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
+ *
+ * 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.
+ */
+
+#include <benchmark/benchmark.h>
+#include <benchmarks/common/generate_benchmark_input.hpp>
+#include <benchmarks/fixture/benchmark_fixture.hpp>
+#include <benchmarks/synchronization/synchronization.hpp>
+
+#include <cudf/scalar/scalar.hpp>
+#include <cudf/strings/find.hpp>
+#include <cudf/strings/find_multiple.hpp>
+#include <cudf/strings/strings_column_view.hpp>
+#include <cudf_test/column_wrapper.hpp>
+
+#include <limits>
+
+enum FindAPI { find, find_multi, contains, starts_with, ends_with };
+
+class StringFindScalar : public cudf::benchmark {
+};
+
+static void BM_find_scalar(benchmark::State& state, FindAPI find_api)
+{
+  cudf::size_type const n_rows{static_cast<cudf::size_type>(state.range(0))};
+  cudf::size_type const max_str_length{static_cast<cudf::size_type>(state.range(1))};
+  data_profile table_profile;
+  table_profile.set_distribution_params(
+    cudf::type_id::STRING, distribution_id::NORMAL, 0, max_str_length);
+  auto const table =
+    create_random_table({cudf::type_id::STRING}, 1, row_count{n_rows}, table_profile);
+  cudf::strings_column_view input(table->view().column(0));
+  cudf::string_scalar target("+");
+  cudf::test::strings_column_wrapper targets({"+", "-"});
+
+  for (auto _ : state) {
+    cuda_event_timer raii(state, true, 0);
+    switch (find_api) {
+      case find: cudf::strings::find(input, target); break;
+      case find_multi:
+        cudf::strings::find_multiple(input, cudf::strings_column_view(targets));
+        break;
+      case contains: cudf::strings::contains(input, target); break;
+      case starts_with: cudf::strings::starts_with(input, target); break;
+      case ends_with: cudf::strings::ends_with(input, target); break;
+    }
+  }
+
+  state.SetBytesProcessed(state.iterations() * input.chars_size());
+}
+
+static void generate_bench_args(benchmark::internal::Benchmark* b)
+{
+  int const min_rows   = 1 << 12;
+  int const max_rows   = 1 << 24;
+  int const row_mult   = 8;
+  int const min_rowlen = 1 << 5;
+  int const max_rowlen = 1 << 13;
+  int const len_mult   = 4;
+  for (int row_count = min_rows; row_count <= max_rows; row_count *= row_mult) {
+    for (int rowlen = min_rowlen; rowlen <= max_rowlen; rowlen *= len_mult) {
+      // avoid generating combinations that exceed the cudf column limit
+      size_t total_chars = static_cast<size_t>(row_count) * rowlen;
+      if (total_chars < std::numeric_limits<cudf::size_type>::max()) {
+        b->Args({row_count, rowlen});
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+#define STRINGS_BENCHMARK_DEFINE(name)                    \
+  BENCHMARK_DEFINE_F(StringFindScalar, name)              \
+  (::benchmark::State & st) { BM_find_scalar(st, name); } \
+  BENCHMARK_REGISTER_F(StringFindScalar, name)            \
+    ->Apply(generate_bench_args)                          \
+    ->UseManualTime()                                     \
+    ->Unit(benchmark::kMillisecond);
+
+STRINGS_BENCHMARK_DEFINE(find)
+STRINGS_BENCHMARK_DEFINE(find_multi)
+STRINGS_BENCHMARK_DEFINE(contains)
+STRINGS_BENCHMARK_DEFINE(starts_with)
+STRINGS_BENCHMARK_DEFINE(ends_with)
diff --git a/cpp/src/strings/find.cu b/cpp/src/strings/find.cu
index c300fb0cc8c..57d5d6afc75 100644
--- a/cpp/src/strings/find.cu
+++ b/cpp/src/strings/find.cu
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2019-2020, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
+ * Copyright (c) 2019-2021, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -315,7 +315,8 @@ std::unique_ptr<column> starts_with(
   rmm::mr::device_memory_resource* mr = rmm::mr::get_current_device_resource())
 {
   auto pfn = [] __device__(string_view d_string, string_view d_target) {
-    return d_string.find(d_target) == 0;
+    return (d_target.size_bytes() <= d_string.size_bytes()) &&
+           (d_target.compare(d_string.data(), d_target.size_bytes()) == 0);
   };
   return contains_fn(strings, target, pfn, stream, mr);
 }
@@ -327,7 +328,8 @@ std::unique_ptr<column> starts_with(
   rmm::mr::device_memory_resource* mr = rmm::mr::get_current_device_resource())
 {
   auto pfn = [] __device__(string_view d_string, string_view d_target) {
-    return d_string.find(d_target) == 0;
+    return (d_target.size_bytes() <= d_string.size_bytes()) &&
+           (d_target.compare(d_string.data(), d_target.size_bytes()) == 0);
   };
   return contains_fn(strings, targets, pfn, stream, mr);
 }
@@ -339,10 +341,10 @@ std::unique_ptr<column> ends_with(
   rmm::mr::device_memory_resource* mr = rmm::mr::get_current_device_resource())
 {
   auto pfn = [] __device__(string_view d_string, string_view d_target) {
-    auto str_length = d_string.length();
-    auto tgt_length = d_target.length();
-    if (str_length < tgt_length) return false;
-    return d_string.find(d_target, str_length - tgt_length) >= 0;
+    auto const str_size = d_string.size_bytes();
+    auto const tgt_size = d_target.size_bytes();
+    return (tgt_size <= str_size) &&
+           (d_target.compare(d_string.data() + str_size - tgt_size, tgt_size) == 0);
   };
 
   return contains_fn(strings, target, pfn, stream, mr);
@@ -355,10 +357,10 @@ std::unique_ptr<column> ends_with(
   rmm::mr::device_memory_resource* mr = rmm::mr::get_current_device_resource())
 {
   auto pfn = [] __device__(string_view d_string, string_view d_target) {
-    auto str_length = d_string.length();
-    auto tgt_length = d_target.length();
-    if (str_length < tgt_length) return false;
-    return d_string.find(d_target, str_length - tgt_length) >= 0;
+    auto const str_size = d_string.size_bytes();
+    auto const tgt_size = d_target.size_bytes();
+    return (tgt_size <= str_size) &&
+           (d_target.compare(d_string.data() + str_size - tgt_size, tgt_size) == 0);
   };
 
   return contains_fn(strings, targets, pfn, stream, mr);