diff --git a/kittens/diff/config.py b/kittens/diff/config.py
index bef86115a..64ac3f390 100644
--- a/kittens/diff/config.py
+++ b/kittens/diff/config.py
@@ -38,7 +38,18 @@ def set_formats(opts):
     formats['added_highlight'] = '48' + color_as_sgr(opts.highlight_added_bg)
 
 
-type_map = {}
+def syntax_aliases(raw):
+    ans = {}
+    for x in raw.split():
+        a, b = x.partition(':')[::2]
+        if a and b:
+            ans[a.lower()] = b
+    return ans
+
+
+type_map = {
+    'syntax_aliases': syntax_aliases,
+}
 
 for name in (
     'foreground background title_fg title_bg margin_bg margin_fg removed_bg removed_margin_bg added_bg added_margin_bg filler_bg hunk_bg hunk_margin_bg'
diff --git a/kittens/diff/diff.conf b/kittens/diff/diff.conf
index eb125e097..ac4450d9c 100644
--- a/kittens/diff/diff.conf
+++ b/kittens/diff/diff.conf
@@ -1,3 +1,11 @@
+# vim:fileencoding=utf-8:ft=conf
+
+# File extension aliases for syntax highlight
+# For example, to syntax highlight file.xyz as
+# file.abc use a setting of xyz:abc
+syntax_aliases pyj:py recipe:py
+
+# Colors
 foreground            black
 background            white
 title_fg              black
diff --git a/kittens/diff/highlight.py b/kittens/diff/highlight.py
index ffc0bedd5..52380c198 100644
--- a/kittens/diff/highlight.py
+++ b/kittens/diff/highlight.py
@@ -73,10 +73,12 @@ def initialize_highlighter(style='default'):
     formatter = DiffFormatter(style)
 
 
-def highlight_data(code, filename):
-    base, ext = os.path.splitext(filename)
-    if ext.lower() == '.pyj':
-        filename = base + '.py'
+def highlight_data(code, filename, aliases=None):
+    if aliases:
+        base, ext = os.path.splitext(filename)
+        alias = aliases.get(ext[1:])
+        if alias is not None:
+            filename = base + '.' + alias
     try:
         lexer = get_lexer_for_filename(filename, stripnl=False)
     except ClassNotFound:
@@ -106,17 +108,17 @@ def highlight_line(line):
     return ans
 
 
-def highlight_for_diff(path):
+def highlight_for_diff(path, aliases):
     ans = []
     lines = lines_for_path(path)
-    hd = highlight_data('\n'.join(lines), path)
+    hd = highlight_data('\n'.join(lines), path, aliases)
     if hd is not None:
         for line in hd.splitlines():
             ans.append(highlight_line(line))
     return ans
 
 
-def highlight_collection(collection):
+def highlight_collection(collection, aliases=None):
     jobs = {}
     ans = {}
     with concurrent.futures.ProcessPoolExecutor(max_workers=os.cpu_count()) as executor:
@@ -126,7 +128,7 @@ def highlight_collection(collection):
                     if p:
                         is_binary = isinstance(data_for_path(p), bytes)
                         if not is_binary:
-                            jobs[executor.submit(highlight_for_diff, p)] = p
+                            jobs[executor.submit(highlight_for_diff, p, aliases)] = p
         for future in concurrent.futures.as_completed(jobs):
             path = jobs[future]
             try:
@@ -138,11 +140,12 @@ def highlight_collection(collection):
 
 
 def main():
+    from .config import defaults
     # kitty +runpy "from kittens.diff.highlight import main; main()" file
     import sys
     initialize_highlighter()
     with open(sys.argv[-1]) as f:
-        highlighted = highlight_data(f.read(), f.name)
+        highlighted = highlight_data(f.read(), f.name, defaults.syntax_aliases)
     if highlighted is None:
         raise SystemExit('Unknown filetype: {}'.format(sys.argv[-1]))
     print(highlighted)
diff --git a/kittens/diff/main.py b/kittens/diff/main.py
index 9e021fa04..e72d7ac39 100644
--- a/kittens/diff/main.py
+++ b/kittens/diff/main.py
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@ class DiffHandler(Handler):
             if initialize_highlighter is not None and not self.highlighting_done:
                 self.highlighting_done = True
                 initialize_highlighter()
-                self.start_job('highlight', highlight_collection, self.collection)
+                self.start_job('highlight', highlight_collection, self.collection, self.opts.syntax_aliases)
         elif job_id == 'highlight':
             hdata = job_result['result']
             if isinstance(hdata, str):