diff --git a/lib/banzai/filter/syntax_highlight_filter.rb b/lib/banzai/filter/syntax_highlight_filter.rb
index c06de2e5b3788e184b563c29d3eb65e3f1b33300..7f838ef4c086d4cfdc72a3f3c155d62ccea8b707 100644
--- a/lib/banzai/filter/syntax_highlight_filter.rb
+++ b/lib/banzai/filter/syntax_highlight_filter.rb
@@ -44,8 +44,7 @@ module Banzai
 
       # Override Rouge::Plugins::Redcarpet#rouge_formatter
       def rouge_formatter(lexer)
-        Rouge::Formatters::HTMLGitlab.new(
-          cssclass: "code highlight js-syntax-highlight #{lexer.tag}")
+        Rouge::Formatters::HTMLGitlab.new
       end
     end
   end
diff --git a/lib/gitlab/highlight.rb b/lib/gitlab/highlight.rb
index ad928fec9705e8ca21af2c9c04c7a4d767d18ba4..aaef569d87071ab669aac0827caf0a4e40e2d90a 100644
--- a/lib/gitlab/highlight.rb
+++ b/lib/gitlab/highlight.rb
@@ -48,7 +48,6 @@ module Gitlab
 
     def rouge_formatter(options = {})
       Rouge::Formatters::HTMLGitlab.new(
-        cssclass: 'code highlight',
         lineanchors: true,
         lineanchorsid: 'LC'
       )
diff --git a/lib/rouge/formatters/html_gitlab.rb b/lib/rouge/formatters/html_gitlab.rb
index 791a95238848502c9887553acb39c210eef1a3f8..b9e3272e0b52d7391ea09146baae08962752b428 100644
--- a/lib/rouge/formatters/html_gitlab.rb
+++ b/lib/rouge/formatters/html_gitlab.rb
@@ -17,11 +17,9 @@ module Rouge
       #                     be changed with lineanchorsid to e.g. foo-linenumber
       #                     (default: 'L').
       def initialize(
-          cssclass: 'highlight',
           lineanchors: false,
           lineanchorsid: 'L'
       )
-        @cssclass = cssclass
         @lineanchors = lineanchors
         @lineanchorsid = lineanchorsid
       end