diff --git a/modules/lang/javascript/config.el b/modules/lang/javascript/config.el
index 0caa4a554..e39b965db 100644
--- a/modules/lang/javascript/config.el
+++ b/modules/lang/javascript/config.el
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@
   :commands js2-line-break
   :config
   (setq js2-skip-preprocessor-directives t
-        js2-highlight-external-variables nil
         js-chain-indent t
         ;; let flycheck handle this
         js2-mode-show-parse-errors nil
@@ -36,7 +35,10 @@
         ;; Flycheck provides these features, so disable them: conflicting with
         ;; the eslint settings.
         js2-strict-trailing-comma-warning nil
-        js2-strict-missing-semi-warning nil)
+        js2-strict-missing-semi-warning nil
+        ;; maximum fontification
+        js2-highlight-level 3
+        js2-highlight-external-variables t)
 
   (add-hook 'js2-mode-hook #'rainbow-delimiters-mode)
   ;; Indent switch-case another step