diff --git a/highlighters/brackets/brackets-highlighter.zsh b/highlighters/brackets/brackets-highlighter.zsh
index cc756e8..3875b99 100644
--- a/highlighters/brackets/brackets-highlighter.zsh
+++ b/highlighters/brackets/brackets-highlighter.zsh
@@ -83,10 +83,10 @@ _zsh_highlight_brackets_highlighter()
       local bracket_color_size=${#ZSH_HIGHLIGHT_STYLES[(I)bracket-level-*]}
       local bracket_color_level=bracket-level-$(( (levelpos[$pos] - 1) % bracket_color_size + 1 ))
       local style=$bracket_color_level
-      region_highlight+=("$pos $((pos + 1)) $ZSH_HIGHLIGHT_STYLES[$style]")
+      _zsh_highlight_add_highlight $pos $((pos + 1)) $style
     else
       local style=bracket-error
-      region_highlight+=("$pos $((pos + 1)) $ZSH_HIGHLIGHT_STYLES[$style]")
+      _zsh_highlight_add_highlight $pos $((pos + 1)) $style
     fi
   done
 
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ _zsh_highlight_brackets_highlighter()
   if [[ -n $levelpos[$pos] ]] && [[ -n $matching[$pos] ]]; then
     local otherpos=$matching[$pos]
     local style=cursor-matchingbracket
-    region_highlight+=("$otherpos $((otherpos + 1)) $ZSH_HIGHLIGHT_STYLES[$style]")
+    _zsh_highlight_add_highlight $otherpos $((otherpos + 1)) $style
   fi
 }
 
diff --git a/highlighters/cursor/cursor-highlighter.zsh b/highlighters/cursor/cursor-highlighter.zsh
index 5685c40..aa70f55 100644
--- a/highlighters/cursor/cursor-highlighter.zsh
+++ b/highlighters/cursor/cursor-highlighter.zsh
@@ -44,5 +44,5 @@ _zsh_highlight_cursor_highlighter()
 {
   [[ $WIDGET == accept-* ]] && return
   
-  region_highlight+=("$CURSOR $(( $CURSOR + 1 )) $ZSH_HIGHLIGHT_STYLES[cursor]")
+  _zsh_highlight_add_highlight $CURSOR $(( $CURSOR + 1 )) cursor
 }
diff --git a/highlighters/line/line-highlighter.zsh b/highlighters/line/line-highlighter.zsh
index 68308cc..2da55ea 100644
--- a/highlighters/line/line-highlighter.zsh
+++ b/highlighters/line/line-highlighter.zsh
@@ -40,5 +40,5 @@ _zsh_highlight_line_highlighter_predicate()
 # root highlighting function.
 _zsh_highlight_line_highlighter()
 {
-  region_highlight+=("0 $#BUFFER $ZSH_HIGHLIGHT_STYLES[line]")
+  _zsh_highlight_add_highlight 0 $#BUFFER line
 }
diff --git a/highlighters/main/main-highlighter.zsh b/highlighters/main/main-highlighter.zsh
index 9260ebe..a0f8dba 100644
--- a/highlighters/main/main-highlighter.zsh
+++ b/highlighters/main/main-highlighter.zsh
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ _zsh_highlight_main_highlighter_predicate()
 # Helper to deal with tokens crossing line boundaries.
 _zsh_highlight_main_add_region_highlight() {
   integer start=$1 end=$2
-  local style=$ZSH_HIGHLIGHT_STYLES[$3]
+  local style=$3
 
   # The calculation was relative to $PREBUFFER$BUFFER, but region_highlight is
   # relative to $BUFFER.
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ _zsh_highlight_main_add_region_highlight() {
 
   (( end < 0 )) && return # having end<0 would be a bug
   (( start < 0 )) && start=0 # having start<0 is normal with e.g. multiline strings
-  region_highlight+=("$start $end $style")
+  _zsh_highlight_add_highlight $start $end $style
 }
 
 # Wrapper around 'type -w'.
@@ -126,7 +126,6 @@ _zsh_highlight_main_highlighter()
   local -a options_to_set # used in callees
   local buf="$PREBUFFER$BUFFER"
   integer len="${#buf}"
-  region_highlight=()
 
   if (( path_dirs_was_set )); then
     options_to_set+=( PATH_DIRS )
diff --git a/highlighters/root/root-highlighter.zsh b/highlighters/root/root-highlighter.zsh
index a9039d6..ede9769 100644
--- a/highlighters/root/root-highlighter.zsh
+++ b/highlighters/root/root-highlighter.zsh
@@ -40,5 +40,5 @@ _zsh_highlight_root_highlighter_predicate()
 # root highlighting function.
 _zsh_highlight_root_highlighter()
 {
-  if (( EUID == 0 )) { region_highlight+=("0 $#BUFFER $ZSH_HIGHLIGHT_STYLES[root]") }
+  if (( EUID == 0 )) { _zsh_highlight_add_highlight 0 $#BUFFER root }
 }
diff --git a/zsh-syntax-highlighting.zsh b/zsh-syntax-highlighting.zsh
index e171339..8d3e42a 100644
--- a/zsh-syntax-highlighting.zsh
+++ b/zsh-syntax-highlighting.zsh
@@ -196,6 +196,23 @@ _zsh_highlight_cursor_moved()
   [[ -n $CURSOR ]] && [[ -n ${_ZSH_HIGHLIGHT_PRIOR_CURSOR-} ]] && (($_ZSH_HIGHLIGHT_PRIOR_CURSOR != $CURSOR))
 }
 
+# Add a highlight defined by ZSH_HIGHLIGHT_STYLES
+#
+# Should be used by all highlighters aside from 'pattern' (cf. ZSH_HIGHLIGHT_PATTERN)
+_zsh_highlight_add_highlight()
+{
+  local -i start end
+  local highlight
+  start=$1
+  end=$2
+  shift 2
+  for highlight; do
+    if (( $+ZSH_HIGHLIGHT_STYLES[$highlight] )); then
+      region_highlight+=("$start $end $ZSH_HIGHLIGHT_STYLES[$highlight]")
+      break
+    fi
+  done
+}
 
 # -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Setup functions