diff --git a/frontend/apps/reader/modules/readerhighlight.lua b/frontend/apps/reader/modules/readerhighlight.lua
index 872bfb1bf..b0813c45d 100644
--- a/frontend/apps/reader/modules/readerhighlight.lua
+++ b/frontend/apps/reader/modules/readerhighlight.lua
@@ -1340,6 +1340,9 @@ function ReaderHighlight:onShowHighlightDialog(index)
     end
     self.edit_highlight_dialog = ButtonDialog:new{ -- in self for unit tests
         buttons = buttons,
+        anchor = function()
+            return self:_getDialogAnchor(self.edit_highlight_dialog, item)
+        end,
     }
     UIManager:show(self.edit_highlight_dialog)
     return true
@@ -1378,7 +1381,9 @@ function ReaderHighlight:onShowHighlightMenu(index)
 
     self.highlight_dialog = ButtonDialog:new{
         buttons = highlight_buttons,
-        anchor = function() return self:_getHighlightMenuAnchor() end,
+        anchor = function()
+            return self:_getDialogAnchor(self.highlight_dialog, not self.gest_pos and self.ui.annotation.annotations[index])
+        end,
         tap_close_callback = function() self:handleEvent(Event:new("Tap")) end,
     }
     -- NOTE: Disable merging for this update,
@@ -1391,10 +1396,10 @@ dbg:guard(ReaderHighlight, "onShowHighlightMenu",
             "onShowHighlightMenu must not be called with nil self.selected_text!")
     end)
 
-function ReaderHighlight:_getHighlightMenuAnchor()
+function ReaderHighlight:_getDialogAnchor(dialog, item)
     local position = G_reader_settings:readSetting("highlight_dialog_position", "center")
-    if position == "center" or not self.gest_pos then return end
-    local dialog_box = self.highlight_dialog:getContentSize()
+    if position == "center" then return end
+    local dialog_box = dialog:getContentSize()
     local anchor_x = math.floor((self.screen_w - dialog_box.w) / 2) -- center by width
     local anchor_y, prefers_pop_down
     if position == "top" then
@@ -1403,7 +1408,25 @@ function ReaderHighlight:_getHighlightMenuAnchor()
     elseif position == "bottom" then
         anchor_y = self.screen_h - Size.padding.small
     else -- "gesture"
-        local text_box = self.ui.document:getWordFromPosition(self.gest_pos)
+        local pos0, pos1
+        if item then -- highlight
+            if self.ui.rolling then
+                local y, x = self.ui.document:getScreenPositionFromXPointer(item.pos0)
+                pos0 = x ~= nil and y ~= nil and { x = x, y = y } or nil
+                y, x = self.ui.document:getScreenPositionFromXPointer(item.pos1)
+                pos1 = x ~= nil and y ~= nil and { x = x, y = y } or nil
+            else
+                pos0, pos1 = item.pos0, item.pos1
+            end
+        else -- gesture
+            pos0, pos1 = unpack(self.gest_pos)
+            self.gest_pos = nil
+        end
+        if pos0 == nil or pos1 == nil then return end -- fallback to "center"
+        if pos0.y > pos1.y then -- try to show the dialog below the highlight
+            pos1 = pos0
+        end
+        local text_box = self.ui.document:getWordFromPosition(pos1, true)
         if text_box then
             text_box = text_box.sbox
             if text_box and self.ui.paging then
@@ -1418,7 +1441,6 @@ function ReaderHighlight:_getHighlightMenuAnchor()
             anchor_y = text_box.y - Size.padding.small
         end
     end
-    self.gest_pos = nil
     return { x = anchor_x, y = anchor_y, h = 0, w = 0 }, prefers_pop_down
 end
 
@@ -1516,7 +1538,7 @@ function ReaderHighlight:onHold(arg, ges)
         logger.dbg("not inside page area")
         return false
     end
-    self.gest_pos = self.hold_pos
+    self.gest_pos = { self.hold_pos, self.hold_pos }
 
     self.allow_hold_pan_corner_scroll = false -- reset this, don't allow that yet
 
@@ -1723,7 +1745,7 @@ function ReaderHighlight:onHoldPan(_, ges)
 
     local old_text = self.selected_text and self.selected_text.text
     self.selected_text = self.ui.document:getTextFromPositions(self.hold_pos, self.holdpan_pos)
-    self.gest_pos = self.holdpan_pos
+    self.gest_pos = { self.hold_pos, self.holdpan_pos }
     self.is_word_selection = false
 
     if self.selected_text and self.selected_text.pos0 then
diff --git a/frontend/document/credocument.lua b/frontend/document/credocument.lua
index 6eb768114..b51be3014 100644
--- a/frontend/document/credocument.lua
+++ b/frontend/document/credocument.lua
@@ -628,7 +628,7 @@ function CreDocument:getImageFromPosition(pos, want_frames, accept_cre_scalable_
     end
 end
 
-function CreDocument:getWordFromPosition(pos)
+function CreDocument:getWordFromPosition(pos, do_not_draw_selection)
     local wordbox = {
         page = self._document:getCurrentPage(),
     }
@@ -641,7 +641,11 @@ function CreDocument:getWordFromPosition(pos)
     local word_found = false
     local box_found = false
 
-    local text_range = self._document:getTextFromPositions(pos.x, pos.y, pos.x, pos.y)
+    local drawSelection, drawSegmentedSelection
+    if do_not_draw_selection then
+        drawSelection, drawSegmentedSelection = false, false
+    end
+    local text_range = self._document:getTextFromPositions(pos.x, pos.y, pos.x, pos.y, drawSelection, drawSegmentedSelection)
     logger.dbg("CreDocument: get text range", text_range)
     if text_range then
         if text_range.text and text_range.text ~= "" then