diff --git a/lib/jekyll/tags/highlight.rb b/lib/jekyll/tags/highlight.rb
index eb069c27..c79b963e 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/tags/highlight.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/tags/highlight.rb
@@ -23,10 +23,11 @@ module Jekyll
 
     def render(context)
       if context.registers[:site].pygments
-        render_pygments(context, super.to_s)
+        output = render_pygments(context, super.to_s)
       else
-        render_codehighlighter(context, super.to_s)
+        output = render_codehighlighter(context, super.to_s)
       end
+      output
     end
 
     def render_pygments(context, code)