diff --git a/src/config.zig b/src/config.zig
index 91e3cdd..257f6bb 100644
--- a/src/config.zig
+++ b/src/config.zig
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ enable_terminal_cursor: bool = true,
 enable_terminal_color_scheme: bool = builtin.os.tag != .windows,
 highlight_current_line: bool = true,
 highlight_current_line_gutter: bool = true,
-highlight_columns: []const u8 = "80 100 120",
+highlight_columns: []const u16 = &.{ 80, 100, 120 },
 highlight_columns_alpha: u8 = 240,
 highlight_columns_enabled: bool = false,
 whitespace_mode: []const u8 = "none",
diff --git a/src/tui/tui.zig b/src/tui/tui.zig
index 844af57..6472742 100644
--- a/src/tui/tui.zig
+++ b/src/tui/tui.zig
@@ -119,15 +119,6 @@ fn init(allocator: Allocator) InitError!*Self {
     const frame_time = std.time.us_per_s / conf.frame_rate;
     const frame_clock = try tp.metronome.init(frame_time);
 
-    const hl_cols: usize = blk: {
-        var it = std.mem.splitScalar(u8, conf.highlight_columns, ' ');
-        var idx: usize = 0;
-        while (it.next()) |_|
-            idx += 1;
-        break :blk idx;
-    };
-    const highlight_columns__ = try allocator.alloc(u16, hl_cols);
-
     var self = try allocator.create(Self);
     self.* = .{
         .allocator = allocator,
@@ -154,13 +145,6 @@ fn init(allocator: Allocator) InitError!*Self {
     instance_ = self;
     defer instance_ = null;
 
-    var it = std.mem.splitScalar(u8, conf.highlight_columns, ' ');
-    var idx: usize = 0;
-    while (it.next()) |arg| {
-        highlight_columns__[idx] = std.fmt.parseInt(u16, arg, 10) catch 0;
-        idx += 1;
-    }
-
     self.default_cursor = std.meta.stringToEnum(keybind.CursorShape, conf.default_cursor) orelse .default;
     self.config_.default_cursor = @tagName(self.default_cursor);
     self.rdr_.handler_ctx = self;