The side once again put its supporters through the wringer before edging the Bulls 16-11 at Forsyth Barr Stadium on Saturday night.
The Highlanders threw the ball around trying to find gaps and space but struggled to get through and round a tough Bulls defence.
But thanks to a couple of key plays at the end, and making the most of the opportunities when the Bulls went down to 14 men, the Highlanders finished just ahead.
Highlanders first five-eighth Mike Delany said the side wanted to keep the ball in hand, and just had to keep belting away at the Bulls.
"They are big boys and [we] just wanted to move the ball away from them and give our guys a bit of a chance to attack ... We were pretty confident in the way we were playing," Delany said.
"We just wanted to hold on to the ball and wait for it to come and at the end it worked out."
The home side deserved the win for it made all the running in the game, but the Bulls just refused to go away and could have snatched it at the end.
The Highlanders were ahead by 10 points with just over 10 minutes to go but the Bulls did not throw up the white flag.
They rumbled to the line and prop Dean Greyling dropped the ball in the act of scoring.
But a minute later replacement hooker Willie Wepener could not be stopped and he halved the Highlanders' lead.
The Highlanders then conceded two penalties to send the Bulls hot on to attack and it looked as if it was going to be a re-run of the narrow loss to the Hurricanes last week.
But Nasi Manu won a penalty for his side and replacement flanker Scott Fuglistaller secured a turnover at a breakdown, to clinch the win.
It was far from a perfect effort from the Highlanders, as they could not quite get their timing right, but they never went away from their game plan, Delany said.
"There were few drops here and there.
"But we knew we were not far away.
"We were confident out there, finding some space and using the ball."
A lot of the match was played between the two 22m marks, and the Bulls stuck rigidly until the final 10 minutes to their kick and chase game.
It was a real arm wrestle in the opening 40 minutes and two Morne Steyn penalties to a Mike Delany three-pointer were the only scoring.
The turning of the match came when Bulls replacement forward Arno Botha was yellow-carded 16 minutes into the second half after referee Ian Smith had issued a team warning for breakdown infringements.
The Highlanders went on the attack and lock Jarrad Hoeata was denied by the television match official when burrowed over the tryline.
But he could not be stopped in the next play, diving over after three quick rucks. Delany knocked over the conversion and added a penalty to give the Highlanders a 10-point lead which, in the end, was enough.
Flanker Tim Boys had an impressive starting return for the Highlanders, halfback Aaron Smith distributed well and centre Tamati Ellison showed why he is back in the All Blacks.
Steyn was as reliable as ever in his 100th game for the Bulls, and halfback Francois Hougaard showed plenty of fight.
Super 15 - The scores
Highlanders 16
Jarrad Hoeata try; Mike Delany con, 3 pen
Bulls 11
Willie Wepener try; Morne Steyn 2 penHalftime: Bulls 6-3.
Crowd: 14,967.
