diff --git a/Classes/Form/DataProvider/CodeEditorFormatDataProvider.php b/Classes/Form/DataProvider/CodeEditorFormatDataProvider.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2554c7d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Classes/Form/DataProvider/CodeEditorFormatDataProvider.php
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+/*
+ * This file is part of the package bk2k/syntax.
+ *
+ * For the full copyright and license information, please read the
+ * LICENSE file that was distributed with this source code.
+ */
+
+namespace BK2K\Syntax\Form\DataProvider;
+
+use TYPO3\CMS\Backend\Form\FormDataProviderInterface;
+
+class CodeEditorFormatDataProvider implements FormDataProviderInterface
+{
+    public function addData(array $result): array
+    {
+        if ($result['tableName'] !== 'tt_content' || $result['recordTypeValue'] !== 'syntax') {
+            return $result;
+        }
+
+        // @todo refactor when core provides api to retrieve registered packages or gracefully fallbacks
+        $syntaxLanguage = $result['databaseRow']['syntax_language'][0] ?? '';
+        if (in_array($syntaxLanguage, ['css', 'html', 'javascript', 'json', 'php', 'sql', 'typoscript', 'xml'])) {
+            $result['processedTca']['columns']['bodytext']['config']['format'] = $syntaxLanguage;
+        }
+
+        return $result;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/ext_localconf.php b/ext_localconf.php
index a34ed96..75db8c9 100644
--- a/ext_localconf.php
+++ b/ext_localconf.php
@@ -7,6 +7,9 @@
  * LICENSE file that was distributed with this source code.
  */
 
+use BK2K\Syntax\Form\DataProvider\CodeEditorFormatDataProvider;
+use TYPO3\CMS\Backend\Form\FormDataProvider\EvaluateDisplayConditions;
+use TYPO3\CMS\Backend\Form\FormDataProvider\TcaColumnsOverrides;
 use TYPO3\CMS\Core\Imaging\IconProvider\SvgIconProvider;
 use TYPO3\CMS\Core\Imaging\IconRegistry;
 use TYPO3\CMS\Core\Utility\ExtensionManagementUtility;
@@ -26,3 +29,10 @@
     SvgIconProvider::class,
     ['source' => 'EXT:syntax/Resources/Public/Icons/ContentElements/content-element-syntax.svg']
 );
+
+$GLOBALS['TYPO3_CONF_VARS']['SYS']['formEngine']['formDataGroup']['tcaDatabaseRecord'][CodeEditorFormatDataProvider::class] = [
+    'depends' => [
+        TcaColumnsOverrides::class,
+        EvaluateDisplayConditions::class,
+    ],
+];