diff --git a/lib/extend/filter.js b/lib/extend/filter.js
index ab08288cf9..966a971524 100644
--- a/lib/extend/filter.js
+++ b/lib/extend/filter.js
@@ -92,22 +92,6 @@ class Filter {
 
     return args[0];
   }
-
-  execFirstSync(type, data, options = {}) {
-    const filters = this.list(type);
-    const filtersLen = filters.length;
-    if (filtersLen === 0) return null;
-
-    const ctx = options.context;
-    const args = options.args || [];
-
-    args.unshift(data);
-
-    const result = Reflect.apply(filters[0], ctx, args);
-    args[0] = result == null ? args[0] : result;
-
-    return args[0];
-  }
 }
 
 module.exports = Filter;
diff --git a/lib/extend/highlight.js b/lib/extend/highlight.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4419edb334
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/extend/highlight.js
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+'use strict';
+
+class Highlight {
+  constructor() {
+    this.store = {};
+  }
+
+  register(name, fn) {
+    if (typeof fn !== 'function') throw new TypeError('fn must be a function');
+
+    this.store[name] = fn;
+  }
+
+  query(name) {
+    return name && this.store[name];
+  }
+
+  exec(name, options) {
+    const fn = this.store[name];
+
+    if (!fn) throw new TypeError(`highlighter ${name} is not registered`);
+    const ctx = options.context;
+    const args = options.args || [];
+
+    return Reflect.apply(fn, ctx, args);
+  }
+}
+
+module.exports = Highlight;
diff --git a/lib/extend/index.js b/lib/extend/index.js
index 5e4eb37b28..73ed1d602b 100644
--- a/lib/extend/index.js
+++ b/lib/extend/index.js
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ exports.Deployer = require('./deployer');
 exports.Filter = require('./filter');
 exports.Generator = require('./generator');
 exports.Helper = require('./helper');
+exports.Highlight = require('./highlight');
 exports.Injector = require('./injector');
 exports.Migrator = require('./migrator');
 exports.Processor = require('./processor');
diff --git a/lib/hexo/default_config.js b/lib/hexo/default_config.js
index 07c0d5ed01..95ea520cc1 100644
--- a/lib/hexo/default_config.js
+++ b/lib/hexo/default_config.js
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ module.exports = {
   post_asset_folder: false,
   relative_link: false,
   future: true,
+  highlighter: 'highlight.js',
   highlight: {
     enable: true,
     auto_detect: false,
diff --git a/lib/hexo/index.js b/lib/hexo/index.js
index 61d637872c..7bbbdd2fb4 100644
--- a/lib/hexo/index.js
+++ b/lib/hexo/index.js
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ const Module = require('module');
 const { runInThisContext } = require('vm');
 const { version } = require('../../package.json');
 const logger = require('hexo-log');
-const { Console, Deployer, Filter, Generator, Helper, Injector, Migrator, Processor, Renderer, Tag } = require('../extend');
+const { Console, Deployer, Filter, Generator, Helper, Highlight, Injector, Migrator, Processor, Renderer, Tag } = require('../extend');
 const Render = require('./render');
 const registerModels = require('./register_models');
 const Post = require('./post');
@@ -123,6 +123,7 @@ class Hexo extends EventEmitter {
       filter: new Filter(),
       generator: new Generator(),
       helper: new Helper(),
+      highlight: new Highlight(),
       injector: new Injector(),
       migrator: new Migrator(),
       processor: new Processor(),
@@ -479,10 +480,6 @@ class Hexo extends EventEmitter {
     });
   }
 
-  queryFilterCount(type) {
-    return this.extend.filter.queryCount(type);
-  }
-
   execFilter(type, data, options) {
     return this.extend.filter.exec(type, data, options);
   }
@@ -490,10 +487,6 @@ class Hexo extends EventEmitter {
   execFilterSync(type, data, options) {
     return this.extend.filter.execSync(type, data, options);
   }
-
-  execFirstFilterSync(type, data, options) {
-    return this.extend.filter.execFirstSync(type, data, options);
-  }
 }
 
 Hexo.lib_dir = libDir + sep;
diff --git a/lib/hexo/load_highlight.js b/lib/hexo/load_highlight.js
index c61572c3c8..7f352a5291 100644
--- a/lib/hexo/load_highlight.js
+++ b/lib/hexo/load_highlight.js
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 'use strict';
 
-module.exports = require('../plugins/filter/highlight');
+module.exports = require('../plugins/highlight');
diff --git a/lib/plugins/filter/before_post_render/backtick_code_block.js b/lib/plugins/filter/before_post_render/backtick_code_block.js
index 4f742c058c..4732537618 100644
--- a/lib/plugins/filter/before_post_render/backtick_code_block.js
+++ b/lib/plugins/filter/before_post_render/backtick_code_block.js
@@ -10,13 +10,13 @@ module.exports = ctx => {
   return function backtickCodeBlock(data) {
     const dataContent = data.content;
 
-    if ((!dataContent.includes('```') && !dataContent.includes('~~~')) || !ctx.queryFilterCount('highlight')) return;
+    if ((!dataContent.includes('```') && !dataContent.includes('~~~')) || !ctx.extend.highlight.query(ctx.config.highlighter)) return;
 
     data.content = dataContent.replace(rBacktick, ($0, start, $2, _args, _content, end) => {
       let content = _content.replace(/\n$/, '');
 
       // neither highlight or prismjs is enabled, return escaped content directly.
-      if (!ctx.queryFilterCount('highlight')) return escapeSwigTag($0);
+      if (!ctx.extend.highlight.query(ctx.config.highlighter)) return escapeSwigTag($0);
 
       // Extract language and caption of code blocks
       const args = _args.split('=').shift();
@@ -58,7 +58,10 @@ module.exports = ctx => {
       if (_args.includes('=')) {
         options.firstLineNumber = _args.split('=')[1] || 1;
       }
-      content = ctx.execFirstFilterSync('highlight', content, { args: [options] });
+      content = ctx.extend.highlight.exec(ctx.config.highlighter, {
+        context: ctx,
+        args: [content, options]
+      });
 
       return start
         + '<hexoPostRenderCodeBlock>'
diff --git a/lib/plugins/filter/highlight/index.js b/lib/plugins/filter/highlight/index.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 9242397990..0000000000
--- a/lib/plugins/filter/highlight/index.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,14 +0,0 @@
-'use strict';
-
-module.exports = ctx => {
-  const { filter } = ctx.extend;
-  const hljsCfg = ctx.config.highlight || {};
-  const prismCfg = ctx.config.prismjs || {};
-
-  // Since prismjs have better performance, so prismjs should have higher priority.
-  if (prismCfg.enable) {
-    filter.register('highlight', require('./prism')(ctx));
-  } else if (hljsCfg.enable) {
-    filter.register('highlight', require('./highlight')(ctx));
-  }
-};
diff --git a/lib/plugins/filter/index.js b/lib/plugins/filter/index.js
index f28ea91410..f349b99b29 100644
--- a/lib/plugins/filter/index.js
+++ b/lib/plugins/filter/index.js
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@ module.exports = ctx => {
   require('./before_exit')(ctx);
   require('./before_generate')(ctx);
   require('./template_locals')(ctx);
-  require('./highlight')(ctx);
 
   filter.register('new_post_path', require('./new_post_path'));
   filter.register('post_permalink', require('./post_permalink'));
diff --git a/lib/plugins/filter/highlight/highlight.js b/lib/plugins/highlight/highlight.js
similarity index 100%
rename from lib/plugins/filter/highlight/highlight.js
rename to lib/plugins/highlight/highlight.js
diff --git a/lib/plugins/highlight/index.js b/lib/plugins/highlight/index.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c5ed14442d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/plugins/highlight/index.js
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+'use strict';
+
+module.exports = ctx => {
+  const { highlight } = ctx.extend;
+
+  highlight.register('highlight.js', require('./highlight')(ctx));
+  highlight.register('prismjs', require('./prism')(ctx));
+};
diff --git a/lib/plugins/filter/highlight/prism.js b/lib/plugins/highlight/prism.js
similarity index 100%
rename from lib/plugins/filter/highlight/prism.js
rename to lib/plugins/highlight/prism.js
diff --git a/lib/plugins/tag/code.js b/lib/plugins/tag/code.js
index 6a9250375c..ca6ead4f70 100644
--- a/lib/plugins/tag/code.js
+++ b/lib/plugins/tag/code.js
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ function parseArgs(args) {
 module.exports = ctx => function codeTag(args, content) {
 
   // If neither highlight.js nor prism.js is enabled, return escaped code directly
-  if (!ctx.queryFilterCount('highlight')) {
+  if (!ctx.extend.highlight.query(ctx.config.highlighter)) {
     return `<pre><code>${escapeHTML(content)}</code></pre>`;
   }
 
@@ -140,7 +140,10 @@ module.exports = ctx => function codeTag(args, content) {
 
   const options = parseArgs(args);
   options.lines_length = content.split('\n').length;
-  content = ctx.execFirstFilterSync('highlight', content, { args: [options] });
+  content = ctx.extend.highlight.exec(ctx.config.highlighter, {
+    context: ctx,
+    args: [content, options]
+  });
 
   return content.replace(/{/g, '&#123;').replace(/}/g, '&#125;');
 };
diff --git a/lib/plugins/tag/include_code.js b/lib/plugins/tag/include_code.js
index bf457e27bd..4676eb135b 100644
--- a/lib/plugins/tag/include_code.js
+++ b/lib/plugins/tag/include_code.js
@@ -62,13 +62,16 @@ module.exports = ctx => function includeCodeTag(args) {
     const lines = code.split('\n');
     code = lines.slice(from, to).join('\n').trim();
 
-    if (ctx.queryFilterCount('highlight')) {
+    if (ctx.extend.highlight.query(ctx.config.highlighter)) {
       const options = {
         lang,
         caption,
         lines_length: lines.length
       };
-      return ctx.execFirstFilterSync('highlight', code, { args: [options] });
+      return ctx.extend.highlight.exec(ctx.config.highlighter, {
+        context: ctx,
+        args: [code, options]
+      });
     }
 
     return `<pre><code>${code}</code></pre>`;
diff --git a/test/scripts/filters/backtick_code_block.js b/test/scripts/filters/backtick_code_block.js
index 24557dc6ff..c2f77d1a5e 100644
--- a/test/scripts/filters/backtick_code_block.js
+++ b/test/scripts/filters/backtick_code_block.js
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ const defaultConfig = require('../../../lib/hexo/default_config');
 describe('Backtick code block', () => {
   const Hexo = require('../../../lib/hexo');
   const hexo = new Hexo();
+  require('../../../lib/plugins/highlight/')(hexo);
   const codeBlock = require('../../../lib/plugins/filter/before_post_render/backtick_code_block')(hexo);
 
   const code = [
@@ -47,7 +48,7 @@ describe('Backtick code block', () => {
 
     const data = {content};
 
-    hexo.extend.filter.store.highlight = [];
+    hexo.config.highlighter = '';
     codeBlock(data);
     data.content.should.eql(content);
   });
@@ -75,8 +76,7 @@ describe('Backtick code block', () => {
 
   describe('highlightjs', () => {
     beforeEach(() => {
-      hexo.extend.filter.store.highlight = [];
-      hexo.extend.filter.register('highlight', require('../../../lib/plugins/filter/highlight/highlight')(hexo));
+      hexo.config.highlighter = 'highlight.js';
     });
 
     it('shorthand', () => {
@@ -507,8 +507,7 @@ describe('Backtick code block', () => {
 
   describe('prismjs', () => {
     beforeEach(() => {
-      hexo.extend.filter.store.highlight = [];
-      hexo.extend.filter.register('highlight', require('../../../lib/plugins/filter/highlight/prism')(hexo));
+      hexo.config.highlighter = 'prismjs';
     });
 
     it('default', () => {
diff --git a/test/scripts/hexo/post.js b/test/scripts/hexo/post.js
index e07ae4cfe9..3a0584eddf 100644
--- a/test/scripts/hexo/post.js
+++ b/test/scripts/hexo/post.js
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ const escapeSwigTag = str => str.replace(/{/g, '&#123;').replace(/}/g, '&#125;')
 describe('Post', () => {
   const Hexo = require('../../../lib/hexo');
   const hexo = new Hexo(join(__dirname, 'post_test'));
+  require('../../../lib/plugins/highlight/')(hexo);
   const { post } = hexo;
   const now = Date.now();
   let clock;
@@ -903,8 +904,7 @@ describe('Post', () => {
   });
 
   it('render() - shouln\'t break curly brackets', async () => {
-    hexo.extend.filter.store.highlight = [];
-    hexo.extend.filter.register('highlight', require('../../../lib/plugins/filter/highlight/prism')(hexo));
+    hexo.config.highlighter = 'prismjs';
 
     const content = [
       '\\begin{equation}',
@@ -920,8 +920,7 @@ describe('Post', () => {
     data.content.should.include('\\begin{equation}');
     data.content.should.include('\\end{equation}');
 
-    hexo.extend.filter.store.highlight = [];
-    hexo.extend.filter.register('highlight', require('../../../lib/plugins/filter/highlight/highlight')(hexo));
+    hexo.config.highlighter = 'highlight.js';
   });
 
   // #2321
@@ -1320,8 +1319,7 @@ describe('Post', () => {
   });
 
   it('render() - issue #4460', async () => {
-    hexo.extend.filter.store.highlight = [];
-    hexo.extend.filter.register('highlight', require('../../../lib/plugins/filter/highlight/prism')(hexo));
+    hexo.config.highlighter = 'prismjs';
 
     const content = fixture.content_for_issue_4460;
 
@@ -1332,13 +1330,11 @@ describe('Post', () => {
 
     data.content.should.not.include('hexoPostRenderEscape');
 
-    hexo.extend.filter.store.highlight = [];
-    hexo.extend.filter.register('highlight', require('../../../lib/plugins/filter/highlight/highlight')(hexo));
+    hexo.config.highlighter = 'highlight.js';
   });
 
   it('render() - empty tag name', async () => {
-    hexo.extend.filter.store.highlight = [];
-    hexo.extend.filter.register('highlight', require('../../../lib/plugins/filter/highlight/prism')(hexo));
+    hexo.config.highlighter = 'prismjs';
 
     const content = 'Disable rendering of Nunjucks tag `{{ }}` / `{% %}`';
 
@@ -1350,7 +1346,6 @@ describe('Post', () => {
     data.content.should.include(escapeSwigTag('{{ }}'));
     data.content.should.include(escapeSwigTag('{% %}'));
 
-    hexo.extend.filter.store.highlight = [];
-    hexo.extend.filter.register('highlight', require('../../../lib/plugins/filter/highlight/highlight')(hexo));
+    hexo.config.highlighter = 'highlight.js';
   });
 });
diff --git a/test/scripts/tags/code.js b/test/scripts/tags/code.js
index bb0d868c5c..4300dad6f9 100644
--- a/test/scripts/tags/code.js
+++ b/test/scripts/tags/code.js
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ const cheerio = require('cheerio');
 describe('code', () => {
   const Hexo = require('../../../lib/hexo');
   const hexo = new Hexo();
+  require('../../../lib/plugins/highlight/')(hexo);
   const codeTag = require('../../../lib/plugins/tag/code')(hexo);
   const { escapeHTML } = util;
 
@@ -33,8 +34,7 @@ describe('code', () => {
 
   describe('highlightjs', () => {
     beforeEach(() => {
-      hexo.extend.filter.store.highlight = [];
-      hexo.extend.filter.register('highlight', require('../../../lib/plugins/filter/highlight/highlight')(hexo));
+      hexo.config.highlighter = 'highlight.js';
     });
 
     it('default', () => {
@@ -119,12 +119,12 @@ describe('code', () => {
     });
 
     it('disabled', () => {
-      hexo.extend.filter.store.highlight = [];
+      hexo.config.highlighter = '';
 
       const result = code('', fixture);
       result.should.eql('<pre><code>' + escapeHTML(fixture) + '</code></pre>');
 
-      hexo.extend.filter.register('highlight', require('../../../lib/plugins/filter/highlight/highlight')(hexo));
+      hexo.config.highlighter = 'highlight.js';
     });
 
     it('first_line', () => {
@@ -190,8 +190,7 @@ describe('code', () => {
 
   describe('prismjs', () => {
     beforeEach(() => {
-      hexo.extend.filter.store.highlight = [];
-      hexo.extend.filter.register('highlight', require('../../../lib/plugins/filter/highlight/prism')(hexo));
+      hexo.config.highlighter = 'prismjs';
     });
 
     it('default', () => {
@@ -251,12 +250,12 @@ describe('code', () => {
     });
 
     it('disabled', () => {
-      hexo.extend.filter.store.highlight = [];
+      hexo.config.highlighter = '';
 
       const result = code('', fixture);
       result.should.eql('<pre><code>' + escapeHTML(fixture) + '</code></pre>');
 
-      hexo.extend.filter.register('highlight', require('../../../lib/plugins/filter/highlight/highlight')(hexo));
+      hexo.config.highlighter = 'highlight.js';
     });
 
     it('first_line', () => {
diff --git a/test/scripts/tags/include_code.js b/test/scripts/tags/include_code.js
index f39c228e38..170e63887c 100644
--- a/test/scripts/tags/include_code.js
+++ b/test/scripts/tags/include_code.js
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ const Promise = require('bluebird');
 describe('include_code', () => {
   const Hexo = require('../../../lib/hexo');
   const hexo = new Hexo(join(__dirname, 'include_code_test'));
+  require('../../../lib/plugins/highlight/')(hexo);
   const includeCode = Promise.method(require('../../../lib/plugins/tag/include_code')(hexo));
   const path = join(hexo.source_dir, hexo.config.code_dir, 'test.js');
   const defaultCfg = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(hexo.config));
@@ -30,8 +31,7 @@ describe('include_code', () => {
 
   describe('highlightjs', () => {
     it('default', async () => {
-      hexo.extend.filter.store.highlight = [];
-      hexo.extend.filter.register('highlight', require('../../../lib/plugins/filter/highlight/highlight')(hexo));
+      hexo.config.highlighter = 'highlight.js';
 
       const expected = highlight(fixture, {
         lang: 'js',
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ describe('include_code', () => {
     });
 
     it('disabled', async () => {
-      hexo.extend.filter.store.highlight = [];
+      hexo.config.highlighter = '';
 
       const result = await code('test.js');
       result.should.eql('<pre><code>' + fixture + '</code></pre>');
@@ -133,8 +133,7 @@ describe('include_code', () => {
 
   describe('prismjs', () => {
     beforeEach(() => {
-      hexo.extend.filter.store.highlight = [];
-      hexo.extend.filter.register('highlight', require('../../../lib/plugins/filter/highlight/prism')(hexo));
+      hexo.config.highlighter = 'prismjs';
     });
 
     it('default', async () => {
@@ -213,7 +212,7 @@ describe('include_code', () => {
     });
 
     it('disabled', async () => {
-      hexo.extend.filter.store.highlight = [];
+      hexo.config.highlighter = '';
 
       const result = await code('test.js');
       result.should.eql('<pre><code>' + fixture + '</code></pre>');