diff --git a/jekyll.gemspec b/jekyll.gemspec
index 4913951e..7d0a97fc 100644
--- a/jekyll.gemspec
+++ b/jekyll.gemspec
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |s|
   s.rdoc_options = ['--charset=UTF-8']
   s.extra_rdoc_files = %w[README.markdown LICENSE]
 
-  s.add_runtime_dependency('liquid',    '~> 2.6.1')
+  s.add_runtime_dependency('liquid',    '~> 3.0')
   s.add_runtime_dependency('kramdown',  '~> 1.3')
   s.add_runtime_dependency('mercenary', '~> 0.3.3')
   s.add_runtime_dependency('safe_yaml', '~> 1.0')
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |s|
   s.add_development_dependency('jekyll_test_plugin')
   s.add_development_dependency('jekyll_test_plugin_malicious')
   s.add_development_dependency('rouge', '~> 1.7')
+  s.add_development_dependency('liquid-c', '~> 0.0.3')
   s.add_development_dependency('minitest') if RUBY_PLATFORM =~ /cygwin/
   s.add_development_dependency('test-unit') if RUBY_PLATFORM =~ /cygwin/
 end
diff --git a/lib/jekyll.rb b/lib/jekyll.rb
index 911b3ddb..bde11581 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll.rb
@@ -29,7 +29,14 @@ require 'liquid'
 require 'kramdown'
 require 'colorator'
 
+# Conditional optimizations
+begin
+  require 'liquid-c'
+rescue LoadError
+end
+
 SafeYAML::OPTIONS[:suppress_warnings] = true
+Liquid::Template.error_mode = :strict
 
 module Jekyll
 
diff --git a/test/test_tags.rb b/test/test_tags.rb
index a47ca897..bc4b48cd 100644
--- a/test/test_tags.rb
+++ b/test/test_tags.rb
@@ -43,6 +43,10 @@ CONTENT
     create_post(content, override)
   end
 
+  def highlight_block_with_opts(options_string)
+    Jekyll::Tags::HighlightBlock.parse('highlight', options_string, ["test", "{% endhighlight %}", "\n"], {})
+  end
+
   context "language name" do
     should "match only the required set of chars" do
       r = Jekyll::Tags::HighlightBlock::SYNTAX
@@ -59,37 +63,51 @@ CONTENT
     end
   end
 
-  context "initialized tag" do
-    should "set the correct options" do
-      tag = Jekyll::Tags::HighlightBlock.new('highlight', 'ruby ', ["test", "{% endhighlight %}", "\n"])
+  context "highlight tag in unsafe mode" do
+    should "set the no options with just a language name" do
+      tag = highlight_block_with_opts('ruby ')
       assert_equal({}, tag.instance_variable_get(:@options))
+    end
 
-      tag = Jekyll::Tags::HighlightBlock.new('highlight', 'ruby linenos ', ["test", "{% endhighlight %}", "\n"])
+    should "set the linenos option as 'inline' if no linenos value" do
+      tag = highlight_block_with_opts('ruby linenos ')
       assert_equal({ :linenos => 'inline' }, tag.instance_variable_get(:@options))
+    end
 
-      tag = Jekyll::Tags::HighlightBlock.new('highlight', 'ruby linenos=table ', ["test", "{% endhighlight %}", "\n"])
+    should "set the linenos option to 'table' if the linenos key is given the table value" do
+      tag = highlight_block_with_opts('ruby linenos=table ')
       assert_equal({ :linenos => 'table' }, tag.instance_variable_get(:@options))
+    end
 
-      tag = Jekyll::Tags::HighlightBlock.new('highlight', 'ruby linenos=table nowrap', ["test", "{% endhighlight %}", "\n"])
+    should "recognize nowrap option with linenos set" do
+      tag = highlight_block_with_opts('ruby linenos=table nowrap ')
       assert_equal({ :linenos => 'table', :nowrap => true }, tag.instance_variable_get(:@options))
+    end
 
-      tag = Jekyll::Tags::HighlightBlock.new('highlight', 'ruby linenos=table cssclass=hl', ["test", "{% endhighlight %}", "\n"])
+    should "recognize the cssclass option" do
+      tag = highlight_block_with_opts('ruby linenos=table cssclass=hl ')
       assert_equal({ :cssclass => 'hl', :linenos => 'table' }, tag.instance_variable_get(:@options))
+    end
 
-      tag = Jekyll::Tags::HighlightBlock.new('highlight', 'ruby linenos=table cssclass=hl hl_linenos=3', ["test", "{% endhighlight %}", "\n"])
+    should "recognize the hl_linenos option and its value" do
+      tag = highlight_block_with_opts('ruby linenos=table cssclass=hl hl_linenos=3 ')
       assert_equal({ :cssclass => 'hl', :linenos => 'table', :hl_linenos => '3' }, tag.instance_variable_get(:@options))
+    end
 
-      tag = Jekyll::Tags::HighlightBlock.new('highlight', 'ruby linenos=table cssclass=hl hl_linenos="3 5 6"', ["test", "{% endhighlight %}", "\n"])
+    should "recognize multiple values of hl_linenos" do
+      tag = highlight_block_with_opts('ruby linenos=table cssclass=hl hl_linenos="3 5 6" ')
       assert_equal({ :cssclass => 'hl', :linenos => 'table', :hl_linenos => ['3', '5', '6'] }, tag.instance_variable_get(:@options))
+    end
 
-      tag = Jekyll::Tags::HighlightBlock.new('highlight', 'Ruby ', ["test", "{% endhighlight %}", "\n"])
+    should "treat language name as case insensitive" do
+      tag = highlight_block_with_opts('Ruby ')
       assert_equal "ruby", tag.instance_variable_get(:@lang), "lexers should be case insensitive"
     end
   end
 
   context "in safe mode" do
     setup do
-      @tag = Jekyll::Tags::HighlightBlock.new('highlight', 'text ', ["test", "{% endhighlight %}", "\n"])
+      @tag = highlight_block_with_opts('text ')
     end
 
     should "allow linenos" do