diff --git a/.config/kak/autoload/filetype/kakrc.kak b/.config/kak/autoload/filetype/kakrc.kak
index 3f9e1c36..30efdbfb 100644
--- a/.config/kak/autoload/filetype/kakrc.kak
+++ b/.config/kak/autoload/filetype/kakrc.kak
@@ -65,7 +65,6 @@ evaluate-commands %sh{
               select set-face set-option set-register source trigger-user-hook try
               unalias unmap unset-face unset-option update-option
               write write! write-all write-all-quit write-quit write-quit!"
-    aliases="addhl decl def compl eval exec rmhl rmhooks face set unset"
     attributes="global buffer window current
                 normal insert prompt goto view user object
                 number-lines show-matching show-whitespaces fill regex dynregex group flag-lines
@@ -83,9 +82,6 @@ evaluate-commands %sh{
                    add-highlighter shared/kakrc/code/attributes regex (?:\s|\A)\K($(join "${attributes}" '|'))(?:(?=\s)|\z) 0:attribute
                    add-highlighter shared/kakrc/code/types regex (?:\s|\A)\K($(join "${types}" '|'))(?:(?=\s)|\z) 0:type
                    add-highlighter shared/kakrc/code/values regex (?:\s|\A)\K($(join "${values}" '|'))(?:(?=\s)|\z) 0:value"
-    if [ -n "$kak_opt_extra_kak_keywords" ]; then
-        printf '%\n' "add-highlighter shared/kakrc/code/aliases regex (?:\s|\A)\K($(join "${kak_opt_extra_kak_keywords}" '|'))(?:(?=\s)|\z) 0:keyword"
-    fi
 }
 
 add-highlighter shared/kakrc/code/colors regex \b(rgb:[0-9a-fA-F]{6}|rgba:[0-9a-fA-F]{8})\b 0:value
diff --git a/.config/kak/kakrc b/.config/kak/kakrc
index 9c8745ce..322563f8 100644
--- a/.config/kak/kakrc
+++ b/.config/kak/kakrc
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ declare-option -hidden bool on_server %sh{
 define-command -override true nop
 define-command -override false fail
 
+# used by kakrc.kak to highlight as keywords
+
 try %{
     %opt{on_server}
     colorscheme ashen-local
@@ -122,6 +124,13 @@ set-option global tabstop 4
 set-option global indentwidth 4
 
 hook global WinSetOption filetype=kak %{
+    declare-option str-list extra_kak_keywords addhl decl def compl eval exec rmhl rmhooks face set unset
+    eval %sh{
+        join() { sep=$2; eval set -- $1; IFS="$sep"; echo "$*"; }
+        if [ -n "$kak_opt_extra_kak_keywords" ]; then
+            printf '%s' "add-highlighter shared/kakrc/code/extra_keywords regex (?:\s|\A)\K($(join "${kak_opt_extra_kak_keywords}" '|'))(?:(?=\s)|\z) 0:keyword"
+        fi
+    }
     # make brackets gray a-la Ashen
     add-highlighter window/bracket regex [\[\]\(\)\{\}]{1} 0:rgb:737373
     # special highlighting for escaped goodies in regex