diff --git a/sphinx/highlighting.py b/sphinx/highlighting.py
index dca2a03fe39..29cf9d26e8c 100644
--- a/sphinx/highlighting.py
+++ b/sphinx/highlighting.py
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ def get_lexer(
                     lang,
                     location=location,
                     type='misc',
-                    subtype='higlighting_failure',
+                    subtype='highlighting_failure',
                 )
                 lexer = lexer_classes['none'](**opts)