diff --git a/lib/js/BUILD b/lib/js/BUILD
index 8a7986ece2..706c472076 100644
--- a/lib/js/BUILD
+++ b/lib/js/BUILD
@@ -24,6 +24,12 @@ load("//lib/js:bower_components.bzl", "define_bower_components")
 
 define_bower_components()
 
+js_component(
+    name = "highlightjs",
+    srcs = ["//lib/highlightjs:highlight.min.js"],
+    license = "//lib:LICENSE-highlightjs",
+)
+
 filegroup(
     name = "highlightjs_files",
     srcs = ["//lib/highlightjs:highlight.min.js"],
diff --git a/polygerrit-ui/BUILD b/polygerrit-ui/BUILD
index b338cbfd5d..fddfc57766 100644
--- a/polygerrit-ui/BUILD
+++ b/polygerrit-ui/BUILD
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@ bower_component_bundle(
         "//lib/js:ba-linkify",
         "//lib/js:es6-promise",
         "//lib/js:fetch",
+        # Although highlightjs is inserted separately in the UI zip, it's used
+        # by local development servers (e.g. --polygerrit-dev or run-server.sh).
+        "//lib/js:highlightjs",
         "//lib/js:iron-a11y-keys-behavior",
         "//lib/js:iron-autogrow-textarea",
         "//lib/js:iron-dropdown",