diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 4dc54f0..befa5fd 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 # kubernetes contribution tools 
 
 This repo holds tools for kubernetes contributors, it is intended to be used in
-kubernetes (related) repos ranging from [k/k repo](github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes)
-to [kubernetes-sigs repos](github.com/kubernetes-sigs).
+kubernetes (related) repos ranging from [k/k repo](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes)
+to [kubernetes-sigs repos](https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs).
 
 ## Using, Installation
 
@@ -21,11 +21,11 @@ need to be named `verify-boilerplate.sh`/`ensure-boilerplate.sh`.
 
 #### Use
 
-- `verify-boilerplate.sh`  
+- `verify-boilerplate.sh`
   Checks all applicable files in the repo for their license/copyright header,
   and warns if the header is missing for a file.
 
-- `ensure-boilerplate.sh`  
+- `ensure-boilerplate.sh`
   Will add a license/copyright header for files which don't have one yet. It
   will not update existing headers.
 
@@ -50,9 +50,9 @@ You can put a config file into the root of your repo named `boilerplate.json`. T
 }
 ```
 Currently supported settings are
-- `dirs_to_skip`  
+- `dirs_to_skip`
   A list of directories which is excluded when checking or adding the headers
-- `not_generated_files_to_skip`  
+- `not_generated_files_to_skip`
   A list of all the files contain 'DO NOT EDIT', but are not generated
 
 All other settings will be ignored.
diff --git a/boilerplate/boilerplate.py b/boilerplate/boilerplate.py
index a5866e0..5709d42 100755
--- a/boilerplate/boilerplate.py
+++ b/boilerplate/boilerplate.py
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ def is_generated_file(filename, data, regexs, files_to_skip):
 
 def match_and_delete(content, re):
     match = re.search(content)
-    if match == None:
+    if match is None:
         return content, None
     return re.sub("", content, 1), match.group()
 
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ def file_passes(filename, refs, regexs, not_generated_files_to_skip):
 
 
 def file_content_passes(data, filename, ref, extension, generated, regexs):
-    if ref == None:
+    if ref is None:
         return True
 
     data, _ = replace_specials(data, extension, regexs)
@@ -262,7 +262,7 @@ def ensure_boilerplate_file(file_name, refs, regexs, not_generated_files_to_skip
         new_content = ''
 
         # shebang and such
-        if special_header != None:
+        if special_header is not None:
             new_content += special_header
 
         # licence header
diff --git a/boilerplate/boilerplate_test.py b/boilerplate/boilerplate_test.py
index 3c40cb0..d49626b 100644
--- a/boilerplate/boilerplate_test.py
+++ b/boilerplate/boilerplate_test.py
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ def function_mocker(function_name, original_holder, return_value=None):
     # mock the function
     def the_mock(*args):
         mock_call_args.append(args)
-        if return_value != None:
+        if return_value is not None:
             return return_value
 
     # use the mock in place of the original implementation