diff --git a/rc/base/git.kak b/rc/base/git.kak
index 1f6ea820..765a2041 100644
--- a/rc/base/git.kak
+++ b/rc/base/git.kak
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ hook global WinSetOption filetype=git-commit %{
     addhl -group git-commit-highlight regex "\`[^\n]*\n\h*(?!#)([^\n]*)\n?" 1:default,red
     addhl -group git-commit-highlight regex "^\h*#[^\n]*\n" 0:cyan,default
     addhl -group git-commit-highlight regex "\b(?:(modified)|(deleted)|(new file)|(renamed)):([^\n]*)\n" 1:yellow 2:red 3:green 4:blue 5:magenta
+    addhl -group git-commit-highlight ref diff # highlight potential diffs from the -v option
 }
 
 hook global WinSetOption filetype=(?!git-commit).* %{