diff --git a/History.markdown b/History.markdown
index 1e6423c6..3b633a7c 100644
--- a/History.markdown
+++ b/History.markdown
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 ## HEAD
 
 ### Major Enhancements
+  * Rename the `pygments` option to `highlighter`
   * Add gem-based plugin whitelist to safe mode (#1657)
   * Replace the commander command line parser with a more robust
     solution for our needs called `mercenary` (#1706)
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/configuration.rb b/lib/jekyll/configuration.rb
index a72e51d8..46c3365c 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/configuration.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/configuration.rb
@@ -24,12 +24,12 @@ module Jekyll
       'limit_posts'   => 0,
       'lsi'           => false,
       'future'        => true,           # remove and make true just default
-      'pygments'      => true,
 
       'relative_permalinks' => true,     # backwards-compatibility with < 1.0
                                          # will be set to false once 2.0 hits
 
       'markdown'      => 'maruku',
+      'highlighter'   => 'pygments',
       'permalink'     => 'date',
       'baseurl'       => '/',
       'include'       => ['.htaccess'],
@@ -209,6 +209,13 @@ module Jekyll
         config.delete('server_port')
       end
 
+      if config.has_key? 'pygments'
+        Jekyll.logger.warn "Deprecation:", "The 'pygments' configuration option" +
+                            " has been renamed to 'highlighter'. Please update your" +
+                            " config file accordingly. The allowed values are 'rouge"+
+                            "'pygments' or null"
+      end
+
       %w[include exclude].each do |option|
         if config.fetch(option, []).is_a?(String)
           Jekyll.logger.warn "Deprecation:", "The '#{option}' configuration option" +
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/converter.rb b/lib/jekyll/converter.rb
index e2dc2796..c30f4944 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/converter.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/converter.rb
@@ -1,27 +1,27 @@
 module Jekyll
   class Converter < Plugin
-    # Public: Get or set the pygments prefix. When an argument is specified,
+    # Public: Get or set the highlighter prefix. When an argument is specified,
     # the prefix will be set. If no argument is specified, the current prefix
     # will be returned.
     #
-    # pygments_prefix - The String prefix (default: nil).
+    # highlighter_prefix - The String prefix (default: nil).
     #
     # Returns the String prefix.
-    def self.pygments_prefix(pygments_prefix = nil)
-      @pygments_prefix = pygments_prefix if pygments_prefix
-      @pygments_prefix
+    def self.highlighter_prefix(highlighter_prefix = nil)
+      @highlighter_prefix = highlighter_prefix if highlighter_prefix
+      @highlighter_prefix
     end
 
-    # Public: Get or set the pygments suffix. When an argument is specified,
+    # Public: Get or set the highlighter suffix. When an argument is specified,
     # the suffix will be set. If no argument is specified, the current suffix
     # will be returned.
     #
-    # pygments_suffix - The String suffix (default: nil).
+    # highlighter_suffix - The String suffix (default: nil).
     #
     # Returns the String suffix.
-    def self.pygments_suffix(pygments_suffix = nil)
-      @pygments_suffix = pygments_suffix if pygments_suffix
-      @pygments_suffix
+    def self.highlighter_suffix(highlighter_suffix = nil)
+      @highlighter_suffix = highlighter_suffix if highlighter_suffix
+      @highlighter_suffix
     end
 
     # Initialize the converter.
@@ -31,18 +31,18 @@ module Jekyll
       @config = config
     end
 
-    # Get the pygments prefix.
+    # Get the highlighter prefix.
     #
     # Returns the String prefix.
-    def pygments_prefix
-      self.class.pygments_prefix
+    def highlighter_prefix
+      self.class.highlighter_prefix
     end
 
-    # Get the pygments suffix.
+    # Get the highlighter suffix.
     #
     # Returns the String suffix.
-    def pygments_suffix
-      self.class.pygments_suffix
+    def highlighter_suffix
+      self.class.highlighter_suffix
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/converters/markdown.rb b/lib/jekyll/converters/markdown.rb
index 485cac82..697f4e7e 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/converters/markdown.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/converters/markdown.rb
@@ -3,8 +3,8 @@ module Jekyll
     class Markdown < Converter
       safe true
 
-      pygments_prefix "\n"
-      pygments_suffix "\n"
+      highlighter_prefix "\n"
+      highlighter_suffix "\n"
 
       def setup
         return if @setup
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/converters/markdown/redcarpet_parser.rb b/lib/jekyll/converters/markdown/redcarpet_parser.rb
index 9af80571..9e96c35e 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/converters/markdown/redcarpet_parser.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/converters/markdown/redcarpet_parser.rb
@@ -43,7 +43,8 @@ module Jekyll
           @redcarpet_extensions = {}
           @config['redcarpet']['extensions'].each { |e| @redcarpet_extensions[e.to_sym] = true }
 
-          @renderer ||= if @config['pygments']
+          @renderer ||= case @config['highlighter']
+                        when 'pygments'
                           Class.new(Redcarpet::Render::HTML) do
                             include WithPygments
                           end
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/converters/textile.rb b/lib/jekyll/converters/textile.rb
index 54e93749..d05b2169 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/converters/textile.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/converters/textile.rb
@@ -3,8 +3,8 @@ module Jekyll
     class Textile < Converter
       safe true
 
-      pygments_prefix '<notextile>'
-      pygments_suffix '</notextile>'
+      highlighter_prefix '<notextile>'
+      highlighter_suffix '</notextile>'
 
       def setup
         return if @setup
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/convertible.rb b/lib/jekyll/convertible.rb
index 815c36b0..b0b1b090 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/convertible.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/convertible.rb
@@ -144,8 +144,8 @@ module Jekyll
       info = { :filters => [Jekyll::Filters], :registers => { :site => self.site, :page => payload['page'] } }
 
       # render and transform content (this becomes the final content of the object)
-      payload["pygments_prefix"] = converter.pygments_prefix
-      payload["pygments_suffix"] = converter.pygments_suffix
+      payload["highlighter_prefix"] = converter.highlighter_prefix
+      payload["highlighter_suffix"] = converter.highlighter_suffix
 
       self.content = self.render_liquid(self.content,
                                         payload,
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/deprecator.rb b/lib/jekyll/deprecator.rb
index 23af739d..0fdb7a7b 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/deprecator.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/deprecator.rb
@@ -9,8 +9,7 @@ module Jekyll
       arg_is_present? args, "--auto", "The switch '--auto' has been replaced with '--watch'."
       arg_is_present? args, "--no-auto", "To disable auto-replication, simply leave off \
                           the '--watch' switch."
-      arg_is_present? args, "--pygments", "The 'pygments' setting can only be set in \
-                          your config files."
+      arg_is_present? args, "--pygments", "The 'pygments' setting has been removed"
       arg_is_present? args, "--paginate", "The 'paginate' setting can only be set in your \
                           config files."
       arg_is_present? args, "--url", "The 'url' setting can only be set in your config files."
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/site.rb b/lib/jekyll/site.rb
index 8fee59cf..95bb46f9 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/site.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/site.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 module Jekyll
   class Site
     attr_accessor :config, :layouts, :posts, :pages, :static_files,
-                  :categories, :exclude, :include, :source, :dest, :lsi, :pygments,
+                  :categories, :exclude, :include, :source, :dest, :lsi, :highlighter,
                   :permalink_style, :tags, :time, :future, :safe, :plugins, :limit_posts,
                   :show_drafts, :keep_files, :baseurl, :data, :file_read_opts, :gems
 
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ module Jekyll
     def initialize(config)
       self.config          = config.clone
 
-      %w[safe lsi pygments baseurl exclude include future show_drafts limit_posts keep_files gems].each do |opt|
+      %w[safe lsi highlighter baseurl exclude include future show_drafts limit_posts keep_files gems].each do |opt|
         self.send("#{opt}=", config[opt])
       end
 
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/tags/highlight.rb b/lib/jekyll/tags/highlight.rb
index 2ea144df..a20e90c0 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/tags/highlight.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/tags/highlight.rb
@@ -41,7 +41,8 @@ eos
       end
 
       def render(context)
-        if context.registers[:site].pygments
+        case context.registers[:site].highlighter
+        when 'pygments'
           render_pygments(context, super)
         else
           render_codehighlighter(context, super)
@@ -58,9 +59,10 @@ eos
           @lang
         )
 
-        output = context["pygments_prefix"] + output if context["pygments_prefix"]
-        output = output + context["pygments_suffix"] if context["pygments_suffix"]
-        output
+        output = context["highlighter_prefix"] + output if context["highlighter_prefix"]
+        output << context["highlighter_suffix"] if context["highlighter_suffix"]
+
+        return output
       end
 
       def render_codehighlighter(context, code)
diff --git a/lib/site_template/_config.yml b/lib/site_template/_config.yml
index 85daa771..627c7898 100644
--- a/lib/site_template/_config.yml
+++ b/lib/site_template/_config.yml
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 name: Your New Jekyll Site
 markdown: redcarpet
-pygments: true
+highlighter: pygments
diff --git a/test/test_redcarpet.rb b/test/test_redcarpet.rb
index c6e8b922..c8354c4b 100644
--- a/test/test_redcarpet.rb
+++ b/test/test_redcarpet.rb
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ class TestRedcarpet < Test::Unit::TestCase
 
     context "with pygments enabled" do
       setup do
-        @markdown = Converters::Markdown.new @config.merge({ 'pygments' => true })
+        @markdown = Converters::Markdown.new @config.merge({ 'highlighter' => 'pygments' })
       end
 
       should "render fenced code blocks with syntax highlighting" do
@@ -42,9 +42,9 @@ puts "Hello world"
       end
     end
 
-    context "with pygments disabled" do
+    context "without any highlighter" do
       setup do
-        @markdown = Converters::Markdown.new @config.merge({ 'pygments' => false })
+        @markdown = Converters::Markdown.new @config.merge({ 'highlighter' => nil })
       end
 
       should "render fenced code blocks without syntax highlighting" do
diff --git a/test/test_tags.rb b/test/test_tags.rb
index b21f4931..4819ed93 100644
--- a/test/test_tags.rb
+++ b/test/test_tags.rb
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ class TestTags < Test::Unit::TestCase
 
   def create_post(content, override = {}, converter_class = Jekyll::Converters::Markdown)
     stub(Jekyll).configuration do
-      Jekyll::Configuration::DEFAULTS.deep_merge({'pygments' => true}).deep_merge(override)
+      Jekyll::Configuration::DEFAULTS.deep_merge({'highlighter' => 'pygments'}).deep_merge(override)
     end
     site = Site.new(Jekyll.configuration)
 
@@ -16,8 +16,8 @@ class TestTags < Test::Unit::TestCase
 
     info = { :filters => [Jekyll::Filters], :registers => { :site => site } }
     @converter = site.converters.find { |c| c.class == converter_class }
-    payload = { "pygments_prefix" => @converter.pygments_prefix,
-                "pygments_suffix" => @converter.pygments_suffix }
+    payload = { "highlighter_prefix" => @converter.highlighter_prefix,
+                "highlighter_suffix" => @converter.highlighter_suffix }
 
     @result = Liquid::Template.parse(content).render!(payload, info)
     @result = @converter.convert(@result)