diff --git a/.eslintrc b/.eslintrc
index 76e6f8c48df..8fd53d54a18 100644
--- a/.eslintrc
+++ b/.eslintrc
@@ -24,6 +24,13 @@ globals:
   SimpleMDE: false
   u2fApi: false
 
+overrides:
+  - files: ["web_src/**/*.worker.js"]
+    env:
+      worker: true
+    rules:
+      no-restricted-globals: [0]
+
 rules:
   arrow-body-style: [0]
   arrow-parens: [2, always]
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 6f1f73245df..f0f7d080173 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -3659,6 +3659,11 @@
         "domelementtype": "1"
       }
     },
+    "domino": {
+      "version": "2.1.4",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/domino/-/domino-2.1.4.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-l70mlQ7IjPKC8kT7GljQXJZmt5OqFL+RE91ik5y5WWQtsd9wP8R7gpFnNu96fK5MqAAZRXfLLsnzKtkty5fWGQ=="
+    },
     "dompurify": {
       "version": "2.0.8",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/dompurify/-/dompurify-2.0.8.tgz",
@@ -15008,6 +15013,26 @@
         "errno": "~0.1.7"
       }
     },
+    "worker-loader": {
+      "version": "2.0.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/worker-loader/-/worker-loader-2.0.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-tnvNp4K3KQOpfRnD20m8xltE3eWh89Ye+5oj7wXEEHKac1P4oZ6p9oTj8/8ExqoSBnk9nu5Pr4nKfQ1hn2APJw==",
+      "requires": {
+        "loader-utils": "^1.0.0",
+        "schema-utils": "^0.4.0"
+      },
+      "dependencies": {
+        "schema-utils": {
+          "version": "0.4.7",
+          "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/schema-utils/-/schema-utils-0.4.7.tgz",
+          "integrity": "sha512-v/iwU6wvwGK8HbU9yi3/nhGzP0yGSuhQMzL6ySiec1FSrZZDkhm4noOSWzrNFo/jEc+SJY6jRTwuwbSXJPDUnQ==",
+          "requires": {
+            "ajv": "^6.1.0",
+            "ajv-keywords": "^3.1.0"
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    },
     "wrap-ansi": {
       "version": "2.1.0",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/wrap-ansi/-/wrap-ansi-2.1.0.tgz",
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index abb04356a2d..88360b6b6ff 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
     "core-js": "3.6.4",
     "css-loader": "3.4.2",
     "cssnano": "4.1.10",
+    "domino": "2.1.4",
     "dropzone": "5.7.0",
     "fast-glob": "3.2.2",
     "fomantic-ui": "2.8.4",
@@ -44,7 +45,8 @@
     "vue-template-compiler": "2.6.11",
     "webpack": "4.42.0",
     "webpack-cli": "3.3.11",
-    "webpack-fix-style-only-entries": "0.4.0"
+    "webpack-fix-style-only-entries": "0.4.0",
+    "worker-loader": "2.0.0"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
     "eslint": "6.8.0",
diff --git a/web_src/js/features/highlight.js b/web_src/js/features/highlight.js
index dcd8a8d21e5..d3f6ba71b80 100644
--- a/web_src/js/features/highlight.js
+++ b/web_src/js/features/highlight.js
@@ -1,12 +1,19 @@
-export default async function initHighlight() {
-  if (!window.config || !window.config.HighlightJS) return;
+export default async function highlight(elementOrNodeList) {
+  if (!window.config || !window.config.HighlightJS || !elementOrNodeList) return;
+  const nodes = 'length' in elementOrNodeList ? elementOrNodeList : [elementOrNodeList];
+  if (!nodes.length) return;
 
-  const hljs = await import(/* webpackChunkName: "highlight" */'highlight.js');
+  const {default: Worker} = await import(/* webpackChunkName: "highlight" */'./highlight.worker.js');
+  const worker = new Worker();
 
-  const nodes = [].slice.call(document.querySelectorAll('pre code') || []);
-  for (let i = 0; i < nodes.length; i++) {
-    hljs.highlightBlock(nodes[i]);
-  }
+  worker.addEventListener('message', ({data}) => {
+    const {index, html} = data;
+    nodes[index].outerHTML = html;
+  });
 
-  return hljs;
+  for (let index = 0; index < nodes.length; index++) {
+    const node = nodes[index];
+    if (!node) continue;
+    worker.postMessage({index, html: node.outerHTML});
+  }
 }
diff --git a/web_src/js/features/highlight.worker.js b/web_src/js/features/highlight.worker.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..7d6cc4e4381
--- /dev/null
+++ b/web_src/js/features/highlight.worker.js
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+import {highlightBlock} from 'highlight.js';
+import {createWindow} from 'domino';
+
+self.onmessage = function ({data}) {
+  const window = createWindow();
+  self.document = window.document;
+
+  const {index, html} = data;
+  document.body.innerHTML = html;
+  highlightBlock(document.body.firstChild);
+  self.postMessage({index, html: document.body.innerHTML});
+};
diff --git a/web_src/js/index.js b/web_src/js/index.js
index 6476b2cfbf9..63a5134bbd5 100644
--- a/web_src/js/index.js
+++ b/web_src/js/index.js
@@ -11,12 +11,12 @@ import './vendor/semanticdropdown.js';
 import {svg} from './utils.js';
 
 import initContextPopups from './features/contextpopup.js';
-import initHighlight from './features/highlight.js';
 import initGitGraph from './features/gitgraph.js';
 import initClipboard from './features/clipboard.js';
 import initUserHeatmap from './features/userheatmap.js';
 import initDateTimePicker from './features/datetimepicker.js';
 import createDropzone from './features/dropzone.js';
+import highlight from './features/highlight.js';
 import ActivityTopAuthors from './components/ActivityTopAuthors.vue';
 
 const {AppSubUrl, StaticUrlPrefix, csrf} = window.config;
@@ -29,7 +29,6 @@ let previewFileModes;
 let simpleMDEditor;
 const commentMDEditors = {};
 let codeMirrorEditor;
-let hljs;
 
 // Silence fomantic's error logging when tabs are used without a target content element
 $.fn.tab.settings.silent = true;
@@ -49,7 +48,7 @@ function initCommentPreviewTab($form) {
       $previewPanel.html(data);
       emojify.run($previewPanel[0]);
       $('pre code', $previewPanel[0]).each(function () {
-        hljs.highlightBlock(this);
+        highlight(this);
       });
     });
   });
@@ -75,7 +74,7 @@ function initEditPreviewTab($form) {
         $previewPanel.html(data);
         emojify.run($previewPanel[0]);
         $('pre code', $previewPanel[0]).each(function () {
-          hljs.highlightBlock(this);
+          highlight(this);
         });
       });
     });
@@ -1011,7 +1010,7 @@ async function initRepository() {
               $renderContent.html(data.content);
               emojify.run($renderContent[0]);
               $('pre code', $renderContent[0]).each(function () {
-                hljs.highlightBlock(this);
+                highlight(this);
               });
             }
             const $content = $segment.parent();
@@ -1337,7 +1336,7 @@ function initWikiForm() {
               preview.innerHTML = `<div class="markdown ui segment">${data}</div>`;
               emojify.run($('.editor-preview')[0]);
               $(preview).find('pre code').each((_, e) => {
-                hljs.highlightBlock(e);
+                highlight(e);
               });
             });
           };
@@ -2633,8 +2632,8 @@ $(document).ready(async () => {
   });
 
   // parallel init of lazy-loaded features
-  [hljs] = await Promise.all([
-    initHighlight(),
+  await Promise.all([
+    highlight(document.querySelectorAll('pre code')),
     initGitGraph(),
     initClipboard(),
     initUserHeatmap(),
diff --git a/webpack.config.js b/webpack.config.js
index 57a41a11a77..77680cb3797 100644
--- a/webpack.config.js
+++ b/webpack.config.js
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ module.exports = {
         sourceMap: true,
         extractComments: false,
         terserOptions: {
+          keep_fnames: /^(HTML|SVG)/, // https://github.com/fgnass/domino/issues/144
           output: {
             comments: false,
           },
@@ -89,6 +90,19 @@ module.exports = {
         test: require.resolve('jquery-datetimepicker'),
         use: 'imports-loader?define=>false,exports=>false',
       },
+      {
+        test: /\.worker\.js$/,
+        use: [
+          {
+            loader: 'worker-loader',
+            options: {
+              name: '[name].js',
+              inline: true,
+              fallback: false,
+            },
+          },
+        ],
+      },
       {
         test: /\.js$/,
         exclude: /node_modules/,