diff --git a/src/lib/abstracthighlighter.cpp b/src/lib/abstracthighlighter.cpp
index aadf6d4..0bfe075 100644
--- a/src/lib/abstracthighlighter.cpp
+++ b/src/lib/abstracthighlighter.cpp
@@ -1,294 +1,316 @@
 /*
     Copyright (C) 2016 Volker Krause <vkrause@kde.org>
 
     Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining
     a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the
     "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including
     without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish,
     distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to
     permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to
     the following conditions:
 
     The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included
     in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
 
     THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
     EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
     MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.
     IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY
     CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT,
     TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE
     SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
 */
 
 #include "abstracthighlighter.h"
 #include "abstracthighlighter_p.h"
 #include "context_p.h"
 #include "definition_p.h"
 #include "foldingregion.h"
 #include "format.h"
 #include "repository.h"
 #include "rule_p.h"
 #include "state.h"
 #include "state_p.h"
 #include "ksyntaxhighlighting_logging.h"
 #include "theme.h"
 
 using namespace KSyntaxHighlighting;
 
 AbstractHighlighterPrivate::AbstractHighlighterPrivate()
 {
 }
 
 AbstractHighlighterPrivate::~AbstractHighlighterPrivate()
 {
 }
 
 void AbstractHighlighterPrivate::ensureDefinitionLoaded()
 {
     auto defData = DefinitionData::get(m_definition);
     if (Q_UNLIKELY(!m_definition.isValid() && defData->repo && !m_definition.name().isEmpty())) {
         qCDebug(Log) << "Definition became invalid, trying re-lookup.";
         m_definition = defData->repo->definitionForName(m_definition.name());
         defData = DefinitionData::get(m_definition);
     }
 
     if (Q_UNLIKELY(!defData->repo && !defData->name.isEmpty()))
         qCCritical(Log) << "Repository got deleted while a highlighter is still active!";
 
     if (m_definition.isValid())
         defData->load();
 }
 
 AbstractHighlighter::AbstractHighlighter() :
     d_ptr(new AbstractHighlighterPrivate)
 {
 }
 
 AbstractHighlighter::AbstractHighlighter(AbstractHighlighterPrivate *dd) :
     d_ptr(dd)
 {
 }
 
 AbstractHighlighter::~AbstractHighlighter()
 {
     delete d_ptr;
 }
 
 Definition AbstractHighlighter::definition() const
 {
     return d_ptr->m_definition;
 }
 
 void AbstractHighlighter::setDefinition(const Definition &def)
 {
     Q_D(AbstractHighlighter);
     d->m_definition = def;
 }
 
 Theme AbstractHighlighter::theme() const
 {
     Q_D(const AbstractHighlighter);
     return d->m_theme;
 }
 
 void AbstractHighlighter::setTheme(const Theme &theme)
 {
     Q_D(AbstractHighlighter);
     d->m_theme = theme;
 }
 
 /**
  * Returns the index of the first non-space character. If the line is empty,
  * or only contains white spaces, text.size() is returned.
  */
 static inline int firstNonSpaceChar(const QString & text)
 {
     for (int i = 0; i < text.length(); ++i) {
         if (!text[i].isSpace()) {
             return i;
         }
     }
     return text.size();
 }
 
 State AbstractHighlighter::highlightLine(const QString& text, const State &state)
 {
     Q_D(AbstractHighlighter);
 
     // verify definition, deal with no highlighting being enabled
     d->ensureDefinitionLoaded();
     if (!d->m_definition.isValid()) {
         applyFormat(0, text.size(), Format());
         return State();
     }
 
     // verify/initialize state
     auto defData = DefinitionData::get(d->m_definition);
     auto newState = state;
     auto stateData = StateData::get(newState);
     const DefinitionRef currentDefRef(d->m_definition);
     if (!stateData->isEmpty() && (stateData->m_defRef != currentDefRef)) {
         qCDebug(Log) << "Got invalid state, resetting.";
         stateData->clear();
     }
     if (stateData->isEmpty()) {
         stateData->push(defData->initialContext(), QStringList());
         stateData->m_defRef = currentDefRef;
     }
 
     // process empty lines
     if (text.isEmpty()) {
         while (!stateData->topContext()->lineEmptyContext().isStay())
             d->switchContext(stateData, stateData->topContext()->lineEmptyContext(), QStringList());
         auto context = stateData->topContext();
         applyFormat(0, 0, context->attributeFormat());
         return newState;
     }
 
     int offset = 0, beginOffset = 0;
-    auto currentFormat = stateData->topContext()->attributeFormat();
     bool lineContinuation = false;
     QHash<Rule*, int> skipOffsets;
 
+    /**
+     * current active format
+     * stored as pointer to avoid deconstruction/constructions inside the internal loop
+     * the pointers are stable, the formats are either in the contexts or rules
+     */
+    auto currentFormat = &stateData->topContext()->attributeFormat();
+
     /**
      * cached first non-space character, needs to be computed if < 0
      */
     int firstNonSpace = -1;
 
     do {
         bool isLookAhead = false;
         int newOffset = 0;
-        Format newFormat;
+
+        /**
+         * next format to use
+         */
+        const Format *newFormat = nullptr;
+
+        /**
+         * try to match all rules in the context in order of declaration in XML
+         */
         foreach (const auto &rule, stateData->topContext()->rules()) {
             /**
              * filter out rules that require a specific column
              */
             if ((rule->requiredColumn() >= 0) && (rule->requiredColumn() != offset)) {
                 continue;
             }
 
             /**
              * filter out rules that only match for leading whitespace
              */
             if (rule->firstNonSpace()) {
                 /**
                  * compute the first non-space lazy
                  * avoids computing it for contexts without any such rules
                  */
                 if (firstNonSpace < 0) {
                     firstNonSpace = firstNonSpaceChar(text);
                 }
 
                 /**
                  * can we skip?
                  */
                 if (offset > firstNonSpace) {
                     continue;
                 }
             }
 
             /**
              * shall we skip application of this rule? two cases:
              *   - rule can't match at all => currentSkipOffset < 0
              *   - rule will only match for some higher offset => currentSkipOffset > offset
              */
             const auto currentSkipOffset = skipOffsets.value(rule.get());
             if (currentSkipOffset < 0 || currentSkipOffset > offset)
                 continue;
 
 
             const auto newResult = rule->doMatch(text, offset, stateData->topCaptures());
             newOffset = newResult.offset();
 
             /**
              * update skip offset if new one rules out any later match or is larger than current one
              */
             if (newResult.skipOffset() < 0 || newResult.skipOffset() > currentSkipOffset)
                 skipOffsets.insert(rule.get(), newResult.skipOffset());
 
             if (newOffset <= offset)
                 continue;
 
             // apply folding
             if (rule->endRegion().isValid())
                 applyFolding(offset, newOffset - offset, rule->endRegion());
             if (rule->beginRegion().isValid())
                 applyFolding(offset, newOffset - offset, rule->beginRegion());
 
             if (rule->isLookAhead()) {
                 Q_ASSERT(!rule->context().isStay());
                 d->switchContext(stateData, rule->context(), newResult.captures());
                 isLookAhead = true;
                 break;
             }
 
             d->switchContext(stateData, rule->context(), newResult.captures());
-            newFormat = rule->attributeFormat().isValid() ? rule->attributeFormat() : stateData->topContext()->attributeFormat();
+            newFormat = rule->attributeFormat().isValid() ? &rule->attributeFormat() : &stateData->topContext()->attributeFormat();
             if (newOffset == text.size() && std::dynamic_pointer_cast<LineContinue>(rule))
                 lineContinuation = true;
             break;
         }
         if (isLookAhead)
             continue;
 
         if (newOffset <= offset) { // no matching rule
             if (stateData->topContext()->fallthrough()) {
                 d->switchContext(stateData, stateData->topContext()->fallthroughContext(), QStringList());
                 continue;
             }
 
             newOffset = offset + 1;
-            newFormat = stateData->topContext()->attributeFormat();
+            newFormat = &stateData->topContext()->attributeFormat();
         }
 
+        /**
+         * if we arrive here, some new format has to be set!
+         */
+        Q_ASSERT(newFormat);
+
         /**
          * on format change, apply the last one and switch to new one
          */
-        if (newFormat.id() != currentFormat.id()) {
+        if (newFormat != currentFormat && newFormat->id() != currentFormat->id()) {
             if (offset > 0)
-                applyFormat(beginOffset, offset - beginOffset, currentFormat);
+                applyFormat(beginOffset, offset - beginOffset, *currentFormat);
             beginOffset = offset;
             currentFormat = newFormat;
         }
 
+        /**
+         * we must have made progress if we arrive here!
+         */
         Q_ASSERT(newOffset > offset);
         offset = newOffset;
 
     } while (offset < text.size());
 
     if (beginOffset < offset)
-        applyFormat(beginOffset, text.size() - beginOffset, currentFormat);
+        applyFormat(beginOffset, text.size() - beginOffset, *currentFormat);
 
     while (!stateData->topContext()->lineEndContext().isStay() && !lineContinuation) {
         if (!d->switchContext(stateData, stateData->topContext()->lineEndContext(), QStringList()))
             break;
     }
 
     return newState;
 }
 
 bool AbstractHighlighterPrivate::switchContext(StateData *data, const ContextSwitch &contextSwitch, const QStringList &captures)
 {
     for (int i = 0; i < contextSwitch.popCount(); ++i) {
         // don't pop the last context if we can't push one
         if (data->size() == 1 && !contextSwitch.context())
             return false;
         if (data->size() == 0)
             break;
         data->pop();
     }
 
     if (contextSwitch.context())
         data->push(contextSwitch.context(), captures);
 
     Q_ASSERT(!data->isEmpty());
     return true;
 }
 
 void AbstractHighlighter::applyFolding(int offset, int length, FoldingRegion region)
 {
     Q_UNUSED(offset);
     Q_UNUSED(length);
     Q_UNUSED(region);
 }