diff --git a/lua/vis-std.lua b/lua/vis-std.lua
index f30e0d514..d1fb9d81e 100644
--- a/lua/vis-std.lua
+++ b/lua/vis-std.lua
@@ -48,17 +48,6 @@ vis:option_register("horizon", "number", function(horizon)
 	return true
 end, "Number of bytes to consider for syntax highlighting")
 
-vis:option_register("redrawtime", "string", function(redrawtime)
-	if not vis.win then return false end
-	local value = tonumber(redrawtime)
-	if not value or value <= 0 then
-		vis:info("A positive real number expected")
-		return false
-	end
-	vis.win.redrawtime = value
-	return true
-end, "Seconds to wait for syntax highlighting before aborting it")
-
 vis.events.subscribe(vis.events.WIN_HIGHLIGHT, function(win)
 	if not win.syntax or not vis.lexers.load then return end
 	local lexer = vis.lexers.load(win.syntax, nil, true)
@@ -67,7 +56,6 @@ vis.events.subscribe(vis.events.WIN_HIGHLIGHT, function(win)
 	-- TODO: improve heuristic for initial style
 	local viewport = win.viewport
 	if not viewport then return end
-	local redrawtime_max = win.redrawtime or 1.0
 	local horizon_max = win.horizon or 32768
 	local horizon = viewport.start < horizon_max and viewport.start or horizon_max
 	local view_start = viewport.start
@@ -75,11 +63,9 @@ vis.events.subscribe(vis.events.WIN_HIGHLIGHT, function(win)
 	viewport.start = lex_start
 	local data = win.file:content(viewport)
 	local token_styles = lexer._TAGS
-	local tokens, timedout = lexer:lex(data, 1, redrawtime_max)
+	local tokens = lexer:lex(data, 1)
 	local token_end = lex_start + (tokens[#tokens] or 1) - 1
 
-	if timedout then return end
-
 	for i = #tokens - 1, 1, -2 do
 		local token_start = lex_start + (tokens[i-1] or 1) - 1
 		if token_end < view_start then
diff --git a/man/vis.1 b/man/vis.1
index 72e67e029..f90887d5a 100644
--- a/man/vis.1
+++ b/man/vis.1
@@ -1379,9 +1379,6 @@ Highlight a fixed column.
 .It Ic horizon Op Ar 32768
 How many bytes back the lexer will look to synchronize parsing.
 .
-.It Ic redrawtime Op Ar 1.0
-Maximum time (in seconds) to wait for syntax highlighting before aborting it.
-.
 .It Ic theme Op Do default-16 Dc or Do default-256 Dc
 Color theme to use, name without file extension.
 Loaded from a