diff --git a/helix-term/src/ui/editor.rs b/helix-term/src/ui/editor.rs
index c737b3ce..4c2ec440 100644
--- a/helix-term/src/ui/editor.rs
+++ b/helix-term/src/ui/editor.rs
@@ -340,6 +340,20 @@ impl EditorView {
             Box::new(highlights)
         };
 
+        // diagnostic injection
+        let diagnostic_scope = theme.find_scope_index("diagnostic").unwrap_or(cursor_scope);
+        let spans_ = doc
+            .diagnostics()
+            .iter()
+            .map(|diagnostic| {
+                (
+                    diagnostic_scope,
+                    diagnostic.range.start..diagnostic.range.end,
+                )
+            })
+            .collect();
+        let highlights = Box::new(merge(highlights, spans_));
+
         'outer: for event in highlights {
             match event {
                 HighlightEvent::HighlightStart(span) => {
@@ -412,18 +426,6 @@ impl EditorView {
                                 continue;
                             }
 
-                            // ugh,interleave highlight spans with diagnostic spans
-                            let is_diagnostic = doc.diagnostics().iter().any(|diagnostic| {
-                                diagnostic.range.start <= char_index
-                                    && diagnostic.range.end > char_index
-                            });
-
-                            let style = if is_diagnostic {
-                                style.add_modifier(Modifier::UNDERLINED)
-                            } else {
-                                style
-                            };
-
                             surface.set_string(
                                 viewport.x + visual_x - view.first_col as u16,
                                 viewport.y + line,
diff --git a/theme.toml b/theme.toml
index bf99fb7a..12900571 100644
--- a/theme.toml
+++ b/theme.toml
@@ -60,6 +60,8 @@
 
 "ui.menu.selected" = { fg = "#281733", bg = "#ffffff" } # revolver
 
+"diagnostic" = { modifiers = ["underlined"] }
+
 "warning" = "#ffcd1c"
 "error" = "#f47868"
 "info" = "#6F44F0"