diff --git a/src/lib/abstracthighlighter.cpp b/src/lib/abstracthighlighter.cpp
--- a/src/lib/abstracthighlighter.cpp
+++ b/src/lib/abstracthighlighter.cpp
@@ -127,13 +127,12 @@
     auto defData = DefinitionData::get(d->m_definition);
     auto newState = state;
     auto stateData = StateData::get(newState);
-    if (stateData->m_defData && defData != stateData->m_defData) {
+    if (stateData->initialContext() && DefinitionData::get(stateData->initialContext()->definition()) != defData) {
         qCDebug(Log) << "Got invalid state, resetting.";
         stateData->clear();
     }
     if (stateData->isEmpty()) {
         stateData->push(defData->initialContext(), QStringList());
-        stateData->m_defData = defData;
     }
 
     // process empty lines
diff --git a/src/lib/state.cpp b/src/lib/state.cpp
--- a/src/lib/state.cpp
+++ b/src/lib/state.cpp
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 /*
     Copyright (C) 2016 Volker Krause <vkrause@kde.org>
+    Copyright (C) 2018 Christoph Cullmann <cullmann@kde.org>
 
     Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining
     a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the
@@ -38,46 +39,45 @@
 
 bool StateData::isEmpty() const
 {
-    Q_ASSERT(m_contextStack.size() == m_captureStack.size());
     return m_contextStack.isEmpty();
 }
 
 void StateData::clear()
 {
     m_contextStack.clear();
-    m_captureStack.clear();
 }
 
 int StateData::size() const
 {
-    Q_ASSERT(m_contextStack.size() == m_captureStack.size());
     return m_contextStack.size();
 }
 
 void StateData::push(Context *context, const QStringList &captures)
 {
     Q_ASSERT(context);
-    m_contextStack.push(context);
-    m_captureStack.push(captures);
-    Q_ASSERT(m_contextStack.size() == m_captureStack.size());
+    m_contextStack.push_back(qMakePair(context, captures));
 }
 
 void StateData::pop()
 {
-    m_contextStack.pop();
-    m_captureStack.pop();
+    m_contextStack.pop_back();
+}
+
+Context* StateData::initialContext() const
+{
+    return isEmpty() ? nullptr : m_contextStack.first().first;
 }
 
 Context* StateData::topContext() const
 {
     Q_ASSERT(!isEmpty());
-    return m_contextStack.top();
+    return m_contextStack.last().first;
 }
 
-QStringList StateData::topCaptures() const
+const QStringList &StateData::topCaptures() const
 {
     Q_ASSERT(!isEmpty());
-    return m_captureStack.top();
+    return m_contextStack.last().second;
 }
 
 State::State() :
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@
 
 bool State::operator==(const State &other) const
 {
-    return d->m_contextStack == other.d->m_contextStack && d->m_captureStack == other.d->m_captureStack && d->m_defData == other.d->m_defData;
+    return d->m_contextStack == other.d->m_contextStack;
 }
 
 bool State::operator!=(const State &other) const
@@ -114,5 +114,5 @@
 {
     if (d->m_contextStack.isEmpty())
         return false;
-    return d->m_contextStack.top()->indentationBasedFoldingEnabled();
+    return d->m_contextStack.last().first->indentationBasedFoldingEnabled();
 }
diff --git a/src/lib/state_p.h b/src/lib/state_p.h
--- a/src/lib/state_p.h
+++ b/src/lib/state_p.h
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 /*
     Copyright (C) 2016 Volker Krause <vkrause@kde.org>
+    Copyright (C) 2018 Christoph Cullmann <cullmann@kde.org>
 
     Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining
     a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the
@@ -25,7 +26,7 @@
 #define KSYNTAXHIGHLIGHTING_STATE_P_H
 
 #include <QSharedData>
-#include <QStack>
+#include <QVector>
 
 QT_BEGIN_NAMESPACE
 class QStringList;
@@ -39,6 +40,8 @@
 
 class StateData : public QSharedData
 {
+    friend class State;
+
 public:
     StateData() = default;
     static StateData* get(State &state);
@@ -48,14 +51,15 @@
     int size() const;
     void push(Context *context, const QStringList &captures);
     void pop();
+    Context* initialContext() const;
     Context* topContext() const;
-    QStringList topCaptures() const;
+    const QStringList &topCaptures() const;
 
-    DefinitionData *m_defData = nullptr;
 private:
-    friend class State;
-    QStack<Context*> m_contextStack;
-    QStack<QStringList> m_captureStack;
+    /**
+     * the context stack combines the active context + valid captures
+     */
+    QVector<QPair<Context *, QStringList>> m_contextStack;
 };
 
 }