diff --git a/contrib/check-code.py b/contrib/check-code.py
--- a/contrib/check-code.py
+++ b/contrib/check-code.py
@@ -45,30 +45,30 @@ testpats = [
   [
     (r'(pushd|popd)', "don't use 'pushd' or 'popd', use 'cd'"),
     (r'\W\$?\(\([^\)\n]*\)\)', "don't use (()) or $(()), use 'expr'"),
-    (r'(^|\n)function', "don't use 'function', use old style"),
+    (r'^function', "don't use 'function', use old style"),
     (r'grep.*-q', "don't use 'grep -q', redirect to /dev/null"),
     (r'echo.*\\n', "don't use 'echo \\n', use printf"),
     (r'echo -n', "don't use 'echo -n', use printf"),
-    (r'(^|\n)diff.*-\w*N', "don't use 'diff -N'"),
-    (r'(^| )wc[^|\n]*$', "filter wc output"),
+    (r'^diff.*-\w*N', "don't use 'diff -N'"),
+    (r'(^| )wc[^|]*$\n(?!.*\(re\))', "filter wc output"),
     (r'head -c', "don't use 'head -c', use 'dd'"),
     (r'ls.*-\w*R', "don't use 'ls -R', use 'find'"),
     (r'printf.*\\\d\d\d', "don't use 'printf \NNN', use Python"),
     (r'printf.*\\x', "don't use printf \\x, use Python"),
     (r'\$\(.*\)', "don't use $(expr), use `expr`"),
     (r'rm -rf \*', "don't use naked rm -rf, target a directory"),
-    (r'(^|\|\s*)grep (-\w\s+)*[^|\n]*[(|]\w',
+    (r'(^|\|\s*)grep (-\w\s+)*[^|]*[(|]\w',
      "use egrep for extended grep syntax"),
     (r'/bin/', "don't use explicit paths for tools"),
     (r'\$PWD', "don't use $PWD, use `pwd`"),
     (r'[^\n]\Z', "no trailing newline"),
     (r'export.*=', "don't export and assign at once"),
-    ('(^|\n)([^"\'\n]|("[^"\n]*")|(\'[^\'\n]*\'))*\\^', "^ must be quoted"),
-    (r'(^|\n)source\b', "don't use 'source', use '.'"),
+    (r'^([^"\'\n]|("[^"\n]*")|(\'[^\'\n]*\'))*\\^', "^ must be quoted"),
+    (r'^source\b', "don't use 'source', use '.'"),
     (r'touch -d', "don't use 'touch -d', use 'touch -t' instead"),
     (r'ls +[^|\n-]+ +-', "options to 'ls' must come before filenames"),
     (r'[^>\n]>\s*\$HGRCPATH', "don't overwrite $HGRCPATH, append to it"),
-    (r'stop\(\)', "don't use 'stop' as a shell function name"),
+    (r'^stop\(\)', "don't use 'stop' as a shell function name"),
     (r'(\[|\btest\b).*-e ', "don't use 'test -e', use 'test -f'"),
   ],
   # warnings
@@ -80,11 +80,11 @@ testfilters = [
     (r"<<(\S+)((.|\n)*?\n\1)", rephere),
 ]
 
-uprefix = r"(^|\n)  \$\s*"
-uprefixc = r"(^|\n)  > "
+uprefix = r"^  \$ "
+uprefixc = r"^  > "
 utestpats = [
   [
-    (r'(^|\n)(\S|  $ ).*(\S[ \t]+|^[ \t]+)\n', "trailing whitespace on non-output"),
+    (r'^(\S|  $ ).*(\S[ \t]+|^[ \t]+)\n', "trailing whitespace on non-output"),
     (uprefix + r'.*\|\s*sed', "use regex test output patterns instead of sed"),
     (uprefix + r'(true|exit 0)', "explicit zero exit unnecessary"),
     (uprefix + r'.*\$\?', "explicit exit code checks unnecessary"),
@@ -99,10 +99,10 @@ utestpats = [
 
 for i in [0, 1]:
     for p, m in testpats[i]:
-        if p.startswith(r'(^|\n)'):
-            p = uprefix + p[6:]
+        if p.startswith(r'^'):
+            p = uprefix + p[1:]
         else:
-            p = uprefix + p
+            p = uprefix + ".*" + p
         utestpats[i].append((p, m))
 
 utestfilters = [
@@ -123,10 +123,10 @@ pypats = [
     (r'\w,\w', "missing whitespace after ,"),
     (r'\w[+/*\-<>]\w', "missing whitespace in expression"),
     (r'^\s+\w+=\w+[^,)\n]$', "missing whitespace in assignment"),
-    (r'(?m)(\s+)try:\n((?:\n|\1\s.*\n)+?)\1except.*?:\n'
+    (r'(\s+)try:\n((?:\n|\1\s.*\n)+?)\1except.*?:\n'
      r'((?:\n|\1\s.*\n)+?)\1finally:', 'no try/except/finally in Py2.4'),
     (r'.{85}', "line too long"),
-    (r'(?m) x+[xo][\'"]\n\s+[\'"]x', 'string join across lines with no space'),
+    (r' x+[xo][\'"]\n\s+[\'"]x', 'string join across lines with no space'),
     (r'[^\n]\Z', "no trailing newline"),
     (r'(\S[ \t]+|^[ \t]+)\n', "trailing whitespace"),
 #    (r'^\s+[^_ \n][^_. \n]+_[^_\n]+\s*=', "don't use underbars in identifiers"),
@@ -344,9 +344,18 @@ def checkfile(f, logfunc=_defaultlogger.
         prelines = None
         errors = []
         for p, msg in pats:
+            # fix-up regexes for multiline searches
+            po = p
+            # \s doesn't match \n
+            p = re.sub(r'(?<!\\)\\s', r'[ \\t]', p)
+            # [^...] doesn't match newline
+            p = re.sub(r'(?<!\\)\[\^', r'[^\\n', p)
+
+            #print po, '=>', p
+
             pos = 0
             n = 0
-            for m in re.finditer(p, post):
+            for m in re.finditer(p, post, re.MULTILINE):
                 if prelines is None:
                     prelines = pre.splitlines()
                     postlines = post.splitlines(True)
diff --git a/tests/test-check-pyflakes.t b/tests/test-check-pyflakes.t
--- a/tests/test-check-pyflakes.t
+++ b/tests/test-check-pyflakes.t
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
   $ "$TESTDIR/hghave" pyflakes || exit 80
-  $ cd $(dirname $TESTDIR)
+  $ cd `dirname $TESTDIR`
   $ pyflakes mercurial hgext 2>&1 | $TESTDIR/filterpyflakes.py
   hgext/inotify/linux/__init__.py:*: 'from _inotify import *' used; unable to detect undefined names (glob)
   
diff --git a/tests/test-hgrc.t b/tests/test-hgrc.t
--- a/tests/test-hgrc.t
+++ b/tests/test-hgrc.t
@@ -3,13 +3,19 @@ Use hgrc within $TESTTMP
   $ HGRCPATH=`pwd`/hgrc
   $ export HGRCPATH
 
+Use an alternate var for scribbling on hgrc to keep check-code from
+complaining about the important settings we may be overwriting:
+
+  $ HGRC=`pwd`/hgrc
+  $ export HGRC
+
 Basic syntax error
 
-  $ echo "invalid" > $HGRCPATH
+  $ echo "invalid" > $HGRC
   $ hg version
   hg: parse error at $TESTTMP/hgrc:1: invalid
   [255]
-  $ echo "" > $HGRCPATH
+  $ echo "" > $HGRC
 
 Issue1199: Can't use '%' in hgrc (eg url encoded username)
 
@@ -30,21 +36,21 @@ Issue1199: Can't use '%' in hgrc (eg url
 
 issue1829: wrong indentation
 
-  $ echo '[foo]' > $HGRCPATH
-  $ echo '  x = y' >> $HGRCPATH
+  $ echo '[foo]' > $HGRC
+  $ echo '  x = y' >> $HGRC
   $ hg version
   hg: parse error at $TESTTMP/hgrc:2:   x = y
   [255]
 
   $ python -c "print '[foo]\nbar = a\n b\n c \n  de\n fg \nbaz = bif cb \n'" \
-  > > $HGRCPATH
+  > > $HGRC
   $ hg showconfig foo
   foo.bar=a\nb\nc\nde\nfg
   foo.baz=bif cb
 
   $ FAKEPATH=/path/to/nowhere
   $ export FAKEPATH
-  $ echo '%include $FAKEPATH/no-such-file' > $HGRCPATH
+  $ echo '%include $FAKEPATH/no-such-file' > $HGRC
   $ hg version
   Mercurial Distributed SCM (version *) (glob)
   (see http://mercurial.selenic.com for more information)
@@ -75,8 +81,8 @@ username expansion
 
   $ FAKEUSER='John Doe'
   $ export FAKEUSER
-  $ echo '[ui]' > $HGRCPATH
-  $ echo 'username = $FAKEUSER' >> $HGRCPATH
+  $ echo '[ui]' > $HGRC
+  $ echo 'username = $FAKEUSER' >> $HGRC
 
   $ hg init usertest
   $ cd usertest
@@ -95,10 +101,10 @@ username expansion
 
 showconfig with multiple arguments
 
-  $ echo "[alias]" > $HGRCPATH
-  $ echo "log = log -g" >> $HGRCPATH
-  $ echo "[defaults]" >> $HGRCPATH
-  $ echo "identify = -n" >> $HGRCPATH
+  $ echo "[alias]" > $HGRC
+  $ echo "log = log -g" >> $HGRC
+  $ echo "[defaults]" >> $HGRC
+  $ echo "identify = -n" >> $HGRC
   $ hg showconfig alias defaults
   alias.log=log -g
   defaults.identify=-n
@@ -113,19 +119,19 @@ HGPLAIN
 
   $ cd ..
   $ p=`pwd`
-  $ echo "[ui]" > $HGRCPATH
-  $ echo "debug=true" >> $HGRCPATH
-  $ echo "fallbackencoding=ASCII" >> $HGRCPATH
-  $ echo "quiet=true" >> $HGRCPATH
-  $ echo "slash=true" >> $HGRCPATH
-  $ echo "traceback=true" >> $HGRCPATH
-  $ echo "verbose=true" >> $HGRCPATH
-  $ echo "style=~/.hgstyle" >> $HGRCPATH
-  $ echo "logtemplate={node}" >> $HGRCPATH
-  $ echo "[defaults]" >> $HGRCPATH
-  $ echo "identify=-n" >> $HGRCPATH
-  $ echo "[alias]" >> $HGRCPATH
-  $ echo "log=log -g" >> $HGRCPATH
+  $ echo "[ui]" > $HGRC
+  $ echo "debug=true" >> $HGRC
+  $ echo "fallbackencoding=ASCII" >> $HGRC
+  $ echo "quiet=true" >> $HGRC
+  $ echo "slash=true" >> $HGRC
+  $ echo "traceback=true" >> $HGRC
+  $ echo "verbose=true" >> $HGRC
+  $ echo "style=~/.hgstyle" >> $HGRC
+  $ echo "logtemplate={node}" >> $HGRC
+  $ echo "[defaults]" >> $HGRC
+  $ echo "identify=-n" >> $HGRC
+  $ echo "[alias]" >> $HGRC
+  $ echo "log=log -g" >> $HGRC
 
 customized hgrc
 
@@ -158,8 +164,8 @@ plain mode with exceptions
   > def uisetup(ui):
   >     ui.write('plain: %r\n' % ui.plain())
   > EOF
-  $ echo "[extensions]" >> $HGRCPATH
-  $ echo "plain=./plain.py" >> $HGRCPATH
+  $ echo "[extensions]" >> $HGRC
+  $ echo "plain=./plain.py" >> $HGRC
   $ HGPLAINEXCEPT=; export HGPLAINEXCEPT
   $ hg showconfig --config ui.traceback=True --debug
   plain: True
diff --git a/tests/test-largefiles.t b/tests/test-largefiles.t
--- a/tests/test-largefiles.t
+++ b/tests/test-largefiles.t
@@ -751,7 +751,7 @@ vanilla clients not locked out from larg
   added 1 changesets with 1 changes to 1 files
   updating to branch default
   1 files updated, 0 files merged, 0 files removed, 0 files unresolved
-  $ kill $(cat serve.pid)
+  $ kill `cat serve.pid`
 
 largefiles clients still work with vanilla servers
   $ hg --config extensions.largefiles=! serve -R r1 -d -p 8001 --pid-file serve.pid
@@ -763,7 +763,7 @@ largefiles clients still work with vanil
   added 1 changesets with 1 changes to 1 files
   updating to branch default
   1 files updated, 0 files merged, 0 files removed, 0 files unresolved
-  $ kill $(cat serve.pid)
+  $ kill `cat serve.pid`
 
 vanilla clients locked out from largefiles http repos
   $ mkdir r4
@@ -781,7 +781,7 @@ vanilla clients locked out from largefil
   
   Please enable it in your Mercurial config file.
   [255]
-  $ kill $(cat serve.pid)
+  $ kill `cat serve.pid`
 
 vanilla clients locked out from largefiles ssh repos
   $ hg --config extensions.largefiles=! clone -e "python $TESTDIR/dummyssh" ssh://user@dummy/r4 r5
@@ -819,7 +819,7 @@ largefiles clients refuse to push largef
   abort: http://localhost:8001/ does not appear to be a largefile store
   [255]
   $ cd ..
-  $ kill $(cat serve.pid)
+  $ kill `cat serve.pid`
 
   $ cd ..
 
@@ -864,13 +864,13 @@ Symlink to a large largefile should beha
   $ hg commit -m "commit a large symlink"
   $ rm -f largelink
   $ hg up >/dev/null
-  $ test -e largelink
+  $ test -f largelink
   [1]
   $ test -L largelink
   [1]
   $ rm -f largelink # make next part of the test independent of the previous
   $ hg up -C >/dev/null
-  $ test -e largelink
+  $ test -f largelink
   $ test -L largelink
   $ cd ..
 
diff --git a/tests/test-progress.t b/tests/test-progress.t
--- a/tests/test-progress.t
+++ b/tests/test-progress.t
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@
   > }
   > EOF
 
+  $ cp $HGRCPATH $HGRCPATH.orig
   $ echo "[extensions]" >> $HGRCPATH
   $ echo "progress=" >> $HGRCPATH
   $ echo "loop=`pwd`/loop.py" >> $HGRCPATH
@@ -162,7 +163,8 @@ test delay time estimates
   >     time.time = mocktime(int(os.environ.get('MOCKTIME', '11')))
   > EOF
 
-  $ echo "[extensions]" > $HGRCPATH
+  $ cp $HGRCPATH.orig $HGRCPATH
+  $ echo "[extensions]" >> $HGRCPATH
   $ echo "mocktime=`pwd`/mocktime.py" >> $HGRCPATH
   $ echo "progress=" >> $HGRCPATH
   $ echo "loop=`pwd`/loop.py" >> $HGRCPATH
diff --git a/tests/test-subrepo-svn.t b/tests/test-subrepo-svn.t
--- a/tests/test-subrepo-svn.t
+++ b/tests/test-subrepo-svn.t
@@ -496,7 +496,7 @@ test having obstructions when switching 
   0 files updated, 0 files merged, 0 files removed, 0 files unresolved
   $ echo "obstruct =        [svn]       $SVNREPO/externals" >> .hgsub
   $ svn co -r5 --quiet "$SVNREPO"/externals obstruct
-  $ hg commit -m 'Start making obstructed wc'
+  $ hg commit -m 'Start making obstructed working copy'
   committing subrepository obstruct
   $ hg book other
   $ hg co -r 'p1(tip)'