diff --git a/src/plugins/glsleditor/glslhighlighter.cpp b/src/plugins/glsleditor/glslhighlighter.cpp
index 3c6028e0dc3..7c25b0abbf3 100644
--- a/src/plugins/glsleditor/glslhighlighter.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/glsleditor/glslhighlighter.cpp
@@ -47,10 +47,7 @@ void GlslHighlighter::highlightBlock(const QString &text)
     lex.setState(state);
     lex.setScanKeywords(false);
     lex.setScanComments(true);
-    const int variant = languageVariant(parent()
-                         ? static_cast<TextDocument*>(parent())->mimeType()
-                         : QString());
-    lex.setVariant(variant);
+    lex.setVariant(languageVariant(mimeType()));
 
     int initialState = state;
 
diff --git a/src/plugins/texteditor/syntaxhighlighter.cpp b/src/plugins/texteditor/syntaxhighlighter.cpp
index 5542f4d755e..8c9cc194371 100644
--- a/src/plugins/texteditor/syntaxhighlighter.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/texteditor/syntaxhighlighter.cpp
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ public:
     QList<std::pair<int,TextStyle>> formatCategories;
     QTextCharFormat whitespaceFormat;
     bool noAutomaticHighlighting = false;
+    QString mimeType;
 };
 
 static bool adjustRange(QTextLayout::FormatRange &range, int from, int charsDelta)
@@ -364,6 +365,18 @@ QTextDocument *SyntaxHighlighter::document() const
     return d->doc;
 }
 
+void SyntaxHighlighter::setMimeType(const QString &mimeType)
+{
+    Q_D(SyntaxHighlighter);
+    d->mimeType = mimeType;
+}
+
+QString SyntaxHighlighter::mimeType() const
+{
+    Q_D(const SyntaxHighlighter);
+    return d->mimeType;
+}
+
 /*!
     \since 4.2
 
diff --git a/src/plugins/texteditor/syntaxhighlighter.h b/src/plugins/texteditor/syntaxhighlighter.h
index bbbade3da24..dbd57a45884 100644
--- a/src/plugins/texteditor/syntaxhighlighter.h
+++ b/src/plugins/texteditor/syntaxhighlighter.h
@@ -44,6 +44,9 @@ public:
     void setDocument(QTextDocument *doc);
     QTextDocument *document() const;
 
+    void setMimeType(const QString &mimeType);
+    QString mimeType() const;
+
     static QList<QColor> generateColors(int n, const QColor &background);
 
     // Don't call in constructors of derived classes
diff --git a/src/plugins/texteditor/syntaxhighlighterrunner.cpp b/src/plugins/texteditor/syntaxhighlighterrunner.cpp
index a10f20c5275..0d5e32893ee 100644
--- a/src/plugins/texteditor/syntaxhighlighterrunner.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/texteditor/syntaxhighlighterrunner.cpp
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ public:
     SyntaxHighlighterRunnerPrivate(SyntaxHighlighterRunner::SyntaxHighlighterCreator creator,
                                    QTextDocument *document,
                                    bool async,
+                                   const QString &mimeType,
                                    FontSettings fontSettings)
     {
         if (async) {
@@ -42,6 +43,7 @@ public:
         m_highlighter.reset(creator());
         m_highlighter->setFontSettings(fontSettings);
         m_highlighter->setDocument(m_document);
+        m_highlighter->setMimeType(mimeType);
         m_highlighter->setParent(m_document);
 
         connect(m_highlighter.get(),
@@ -111,8 +113,9 @@ signals:
 SyntaxHighlighterRunner::SyntaxHighlighterRunner(SyntaxHighlighterCreator creator,
                                                  QTextDocument *document,
                                                  bool async,
+                                                 const QString &mimeType,
                                                  const TextEditor::FontSettings &fontSettings)
-    : d(new SyntaxHighlighterRunnerPrivate(creator, document, async, fontSettings))
+    : d(new SyntaxHighlighterRunnerPrivate(creator, document, async, mimeType, fontSettings))
     , m_document(document)
 {
     m_useGenericHighlighter = qobject_cast<Highlighter *>(d->m_highlighter.get());
diff --git a/src/plugins/texteditor/syntaxhighlighterrunner.h b/src/plugins/texteditor/syntaxhighlighterrunner.h
index e7c8001af2f..7202ebf401d 100644
--- a/src/plugins/texteditor/syntaxhighlighterrunner.h
+++ b/src/plugins/texteditor/syntaxhighlighterrunner.h
@@ -24,11 +24,12 @@ class TEXTEDITOR_EXPORT SyntaxHighlighterRunner : public QObject
 public:
     using SyntaxHighlighterCreator = std::function<SyntaxHighlighter *()>;
 
-    SyntaxHighlighterRunner(SyntaxHighlighterCreator creator,
-                            QTextDocument *document,
-                            bool async,
-                            const TextEditor::FontSettings &fontSettings
-                            = TextEditorSettings::fontSettings());
+    SyntaxHighlighterRunner(
+        SyntaxHighlighterCreator creator,
+        QTextDocument *document,
+        bool async,
+        const QString &mimeType,
+        const TextEditor::FontSettings &fontSettings = TextEditorSettings::fontSettings());
     virtual ~SyntaxHighlighterRunner();
 
     void setExtraFormats(const QMap<int, QList<QTextLayout::FormatRange>> &formats);
diff --git a/src/plugins/texteditor/textdocument.cpp b/src/plugins/texteditor/textdocument.cpp
index 225221c4780..a60c729ed4a 100644
--- a/src/plugins/texteditor/textdocument.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/texteditor/textdocument.cpp
@@ -921,7 +921,10 @@ void TextDocument::resetSyntaxHighlighter(const std::function<SyntaxHighlighter
         = qtcEnvironmentVariable("QTC_USE_THREADED_HIGHLIGHTER", "TRUE").toUpper()
           == QLatin1String("TRUE");
 
-    d->m_highlighterRunner = new SyntaxHighlighterRunner(creator, document(), threaded && envValue);
+    d->m_highlighterRunner = new SyntaxHighlighterRunner(creator,
+                                                         document(),
+                                                         threaded && envValue,
+                                                         mimeType());
 }
 
 void TextDocument::cleanWhitespace(const QTextCursor &cursor)
diff --git a/tests/auto/texteditor/highlighter/tst_highlighter.cpp b/tests/auto/texteditor/highlighter/tst_highlighter.cpp
index df9af0c40c3..aaba61161bc 100644
--- a/tests/auto/texteditor/highlighter/tst_highlighter.cpp
+++ b/tests/auto/texteditor/highlighter/tst_highlighter.cpp
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ Last)";
     doc->setPlainText(text);
 
     highlighterRunner = new SyntaxHighlighterRunner(
-        [this] { return new SyntaxHighlighter(doc, fontsettings); }, doc, false, fontsettings);
+        [this] { return new SyntaxHighlighter(doc, fontsettings); }, doc, false, {}, fontsettings);
 }
 
 static const HighlightingResults &highlightingResults()