diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 291d6e8..e4bca49 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 FROM gitea/gitea:latest
 COPY ./rst2htmlbody.py /bin/rst2htmlbody
-RUN apk --no-cache add py3-docutils && \
+RUN apk --no-cache add py3-docutils py3-pygments && \
     chmod 755 /bin/rst2htmlbody
diff --git a/rst2htmlbody.py b/rst2htmlbody.py
index 426fa41..fe81ebe 100755
--- a/rst2htmlbody.py
+++ b/rst2htmlbody.py
@@ -5,6 +5,20 @@ from docutils import core
 from docutils.writers import html5_polyglot
 
 
+# add class "chroma" to the code block, to get the syntax highlighting
+class CustomHTMLTranslator(html5_polyglot.HTMLTranslator):
+    def visit_literal_block(self, node):
+        self.body.append(self.starttag(node, 'pre', '', CLASS='literal-block'))
+        if 'code' in node.get('classes', []):
+            self.body.append('<code class="chroma">')
+
+
+class CustomWriter(html5_polyglot.Writer):
+    def __init__(self):
+        super().__init__()
+        self.translator_class = CustomHTMLTranslator
+
+
 def main():
     if not sys.stdin.isatty():
         text = sys.stdin.readlines()
@@ -15,8 +29,15 @@ def main():
         with open(sys.argv[1]) as fobj:
             text = fobj.read()
 
-    parts = core.publish_parts(writer=html5_polyglot.Writer(),
-                               source=''.join(text))
+    try:
+        import pygments
+        settings = {'syntax_highlight': 'short'}
+    except ImportError:
+        settings = {'syntax_highlight': 'none'}
+
+    parts = core.publish_parts(writer=CustomWriter(),
+                               source=''.join(text),
+                               settings_overrides=settings)
 
     print(parts.get('body', ''))