A stunning Wilfried Zaha solo goal on his Crystal Palace return was enough to send the visitors on their way to three points at the John Smith's Stadium.
The winger collected a Jordan Ayew pass on the left, cut inside two defenders and curled a right-foot shot beyond Jonas Lossl to deliver a real moment of class to the proceedings on 38 minutes.
Zaha, who only returned to training on Thursday, was a central figure in the game, though not always for the right reasons.
The victim of a crude lunge from centre-back Mathias Jorgensen 10 minutes before his goal, Zaha demanded more than the yellow card branished by referee Lee Mason.
He took his frustration out with his own dreadful tackle minutes later on Terriers' wing-back Florent Hadergjonaj. He too saw yellow and looked in danger of being sent off but recovered his composure to becoem the game's dominant force.
Huddersfield hadn't scored a home league goal in four games stretching back to last season and didn't often suggest that rather dismal record was under threat in the first half.
The home side's best chance came after a superb switch of play from Aaron Mooy.
His long crossfield ball found Chris Loewe on the left and Steve Mounie should have scored when he headed his curling cross over after 17 minutes.
Huddersfield were intent on feeding off the long throws of Danish midfielder Philip Billing but Mamadou Sakho was in particularlly solid form at the back for Palace.
The home side roused themselves after the break and Billing had the ball in the net but the whistle had long gone for a previous foul.
Mooy almost provided his own moment of real class as he met Loewe's cross on the volley from 20 yards on the hour only to be denied by the post with Wayne Hennessey well beaten. The goalkeeper was grateful to gather Hadergjonaj's follow-up effort after the ensuing scramble.
Zaha remained a constant threat on the break and when one such foray earned a corner, Tomkins bundled the ball over the line at the back post. Palace celebrations were cut short though as Mason had blown for a foul on Lossl.
James McArthur missed a glorious chance to stretch Palace's lead as he sliced high and wide from Zaha's perfect lay off.
David Wagner threw on his three substitutes and Palace endured plenty of few nervous moments - Christopher Schindler blazing over very late on - but Roy Hodgson's men held on to secure their second Premier League win of the season.
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