diff --git a/diff-highlight.sh b/diff-highlight.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..30e630d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/diff-highlight.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -e
+
+# don't build diff-highlight if it's already in PATH
+if type diff-highlight >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+	return
+fi
+
+# create temp directory
+pushd "$(mktemp -d)" >/dev/null
+
+# copy the diff-highlight source files distributed with git to this temp
+# directory and build it
+cp -R --preserve=mode,timestamps "$(dpkg -L git | grep diff-highlight | head -1)"/* .
+make --quiet
+
+# move the created script to ~/.bin, which is in PATH
+mv diff-highlight ~/.bin
+
+# remove the temp directory and move back to the previous directory
+rm -rf "$(pwd)"
+popd >/dev/null
diff --git a/setup.sh b/setup.sh
index 398a358..deb6d1e 100755
--- a/setup.sh
+++ b/setup.sh
@@ -13,9 +13,10 @@ fi
 DIR="$( dirname "$(readlink -f "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" )"
 SRC_DIR="$DIR/src"
 POST_SETUP_SCRIPTS=(
-	vscode.sh # install vscode configs
-	ssh.sh    # set up SSH config and create key if needed
-	gpg.sh    # create GPG key if needed
+	vscode.sh         # install vscode configs
+	ssh.sh            # set up SSH config and create key if needed
+	gpg.sh            # create GPG key if needed
+	diff-highlight.sh # build diff-highlight script from git source
 )
 
 # read file basenames to copy_files array