diff --git a/Userland/Applications/Spreadsheet/CellSyntaxHighlighter.cpp b/Userland/Applications/Spreadsheet/CellSyntaxHighlighter.cpp
index 7c36019567..1126dcd51f 100644
--- a/Userland/Applications/Spreadsheet/CellSyntaxHighlighter.cpp
+++ b/Userland/Applications/Spreadsheet/CellSyntaxHighlighter.cpp
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 /*
  * Copyright (c) 2020-2022, the SerenityOS developers.
+ * Copyright (c) 2023, Matteo benetti <matteo.benetti@proton.me>
  *
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-2-Clause
  */
@@ -13,44 +14,46 @@ namespace Spreadsheet {
 
 void CellSyntaxHighlighter::rehighlight(Palette const& palette)
 {
-    auto text = m_client->get_text();
-    m_client->spans().clear();
-    if (!text.starts_with('=')) {
-        m_client->do_update();
-        return;
-    }
+    m_client->clear_spans();
 
-    JS::SyntaxHighlighter::rehighlight(palette);
+    if (m_client->get_text().starts_with('=')) {
 
-    // Highlight the '='
-    m_client->spans().empend(
-        GUI::TextRange { { 0, 0 }, { 0, 1 } },
-        Gfx::TextAttributes {
-            palette.syntax_keyword(),
-            Optional<Color> {},
-            false,
-        },
-        (u64)-1,
-        false);
+        JS::SyntaxHighlighter::rehighlight(palette);
 
-    if (m_cell && m_cell->thrown_value().has_value()) {
-        if (auto value = m_cell->thrown_value().value(); value.is_object() && is<JS::Error>(value.as_object())) {
-            auto& error = static_cast<JS::Error const&>(value.as_object());
-            auto& traceback = error.traceback();
-            auto& range = traceback.first().source_range;
-            GUI::TextRange text_range { { range.start.line - 1, range.start.column }, { range.end.line - 1, range.end.column } };
-            m_client->spans().prepend(
-                GUI::TextDocumentSpan {
-                    text_range,
+        auto spans = m_client->spans();
+
+        // Highlight the '='
+        spans.empend(
+            GUI::TextRange { { 0, 0 }, { 0, 1 } },
+            Gfx::TextAttributes {
+                palette.syntax_keyword(),
+                Optional<Color> {},
+                false,
+            },
+            (u64)-1,
+            false);
+
+        if (m_cell && m_cell->thrown_value().has_value()) {
+            if (auto value = m_cell->thrown_value().value(); value.is_object() && is<JS::Error>(value.as_object())) {
+                auto& error = static_cast<JS::Error const&>(value.as_object());
+                auto& range = error.traceback().first().source_range;
+
+                spans.prepend({
+                    GUI::TextRange { { range.start.line - 1, range.start.column }, { range.end.line - 1, range.end.column } },
                     Gfx::TextAttributes {
                         Color::Black,
                         Color::Red,
                         false,
                     },
                     (u64)-1,
-                    false });
+                    false,
+                });
+            }
         }
+
+        m_client->do_set_spans(move(spans));
     }
+
     m_client->do_update();
 }
 }
diff --git a/Userland/Libraries/LibGUI/TextEditor.h b/Userland/Libraries/LibGUI/TextEditor.h
index dfabda73cb..55ddc8946a 100644
--- a/Userland/Libraries/LibGUI/TextEditor.h
+++ b/Userland/Libraries/LibGUI/TextEditor.h
@@ -306,7 +306,6 @@ private:
     virtual void document_did_update_undo_stack() override;
 
     // ^Syntax::HighlighterClient
-    virtual Vector<TextDocumentSpan>& spans() final { return document().spans(); }
     virtual Vector<TextDocumentSpan> const& spans() const final { return document().spans(); }
     virtual void set_span_at_index(size_t index, TextDocumentSpan span) final { document().set_span_at_index(index, move(span)); }
     virtual Vector<GUI::TextDocumentFoldingRegion>& folding_regions() final { return document().folding_regions(); };
diff --git a/Userland/Libraries/LibSyntax/Highlighter.h b/Userland/Libraries/LibSyntax/Highlighter.h
index c67777c1b8..8ba81ea77b 100644
--- a/Userland/Libraries/LibSyntax/Highlighter.h
+++ b/Userland/Libraries/LibSyntax/Highlighter.h
@@ -125,7 +125,6 @@ public:
     }
 
 private:
-    virtual Vector<GUI::TextDocumentSpan>& spans() override { return m_spans; }
     virtual Vector<GUI::TextDocumentSpan> const& spans() const override { return m_spans; }
     virtual void set_span_at_index(size_t index, GUI::TextDocumentSpan span) override { m_spans.at(index) = move(span); }
 
diff --git a/Userland/Libraries/LibSyntax/HighlighterClient.h b/Userland/Libraries/LibSyntax/HighlighterClient.h
index 3491ca8995..a535a60e85 100644
--- a/Userland/Libraries/LibSyntax/HighlighterClient.h
+++ b/Userland/Libraries/LibSyntax/HighlighterClient.h
@@ -17,9 +17,9 @@ class HighlighterClient {
 public:
     virtual ~HighlighterClient() = default;
 
-    virtual Vector<GUI::TextDocumentSpan>& spans() = 0;
     virtual Vector<GUI::TextDocumentSpan> const& spans() const = 0;
     virtual void set_span_at_index(size_t index, GUI::TextDocumentSpan span) = 0;
+    virtual void clear_spans() { do_set_spans({}); };
 
     virtual Vector<GUI::TextDocumentFoldingRegion>& folding_regions() = 0;
     virtual Vector<GUI::TextDocumentFoldingRegion> const& folding_regions() const = 0;