diff --git a/pelican/readers.py b/pelican/readers.py
index 440bbdf8..f53f7350 100644
--- a/pelican/readers.py
+++ b/pelican/readers.py
@@ -110,7 +110,8 @@ class RstReader(Reader):
         return output
 
     def _get_publisher(self, source_path):
-        extra_params = {'initial_header_level': '2'}
+        extra_params = {'initial_header_level': '2',
+                        'syntax_highlight': 'short'}
         pub = docutils.core.Publisher(
             destination_class=docutils.io.StringOutput)
         pub.set_components('standalone', 'restructuredtext', 'html')