diff --git a/vim-7.3-bug816848.patch b/vim-7.3-bug816848.patch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ed8ad7a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vim-7.3-bug816848.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+diff -up vim73/runtime/filetype.vim.816848 vim73/runtime/filetype.vim
+--- vim73/runtime/filetype.vim.816848	2012-05-21 11:04:08.184266381 +0200
++++ vim73/runtime/filetype.vim	2012-05-21 11:05:13.511269886 +0200
+@@ -1098,7 +1098,7 @@ au BufNewFile,BufRead *.mel			setf mel
+ au BufNewFile,BufRead *.hgrc,*hgrc		setf cfg
+ 
+ " Messages
+-au BufNewFile,BufRead /var/log/messages,/var/log/messages.*[0-9]  setf messages
++au BufNewFile,BufRead */log/{auth,cron,daemon,debug,kern,lpr,mail,messages,news/news,syslog,user}{,.log,.err,.info,.warn,.crit,.notice}{,.[0-9]*,-[0-9]*} setf messages
+ 
+ " Metafont
+ au BufNewFile,BufRead *.mf			setf mf
diff --git a/vim.spec b/vim.spec
index 361b593..c67a0ea 100644
--- a/vim.spec
+++ b/vim.spec
@@ -582,6 +582,7 @@ Patch3008: vim-7.0-warning.patch
 Patch3009: vim-7.0-syncolor.patch
 Patch3010: vim-7.0-specedit.patch
 Patch3011: vim72-rh514717.patch
+Patch3012: vim-7.3-bug816848.patch
 
 Buildroot: %{_tmppath}/%{name}-%{version}-%{release}-root-%(%{__id_u} -n)
 BuildRequires: python-devel ncurses-devel gettext perl-devel
@@ -1249,6 +1250,7 @@ perl -pi -e "s,bin/nawk,bin/awk,g" runtime/tools/mve.awk
 %patch3009 -p1
 %patch3010 -p1
 %patch3011 -p1
+%patch3012 -p1
 
 %build
 cp -f %{SOURCE5} .
@@ -1686,6 +1688,9 @@ rm -rf $RPM_BUILD_ROOT
 %{_datadir}/icons/hicolor/*/apps/*
 
 %changelog
+* Mon May 21 2012 Karsten Hopp <karsten@redhat.com> 7.3.515-1
+- enable highlighting for older log files (#816848)
+
 * Tue May 08 2012 Karsten Hopp <karsten@redhat.com> 7.3.515-1
 - patchlevel 515