diff --git a/Doc/make.bat b/Doc/make.bat
index 3ff91f288dc..5ab80850a31 100644
--- a/Doc/make.bat
+++ b/Doc/make.bat
@@ -17,7 +17,13 @@ where hhc /q && set HTMLHELP=hhc && goto :skiphhcsearch
 where /R ..\externals hhc > "%TEMP%\hhc.loc" 2> nul && set /P HTMLHELP= < "%TEMP%\hhc.loc" & del "%TEMP%\hhc.loc"
 if not exist "%HTMLHELP%" where /R "%ProgramFiles(x86)%" hhc > "%TEMP%\hhc.loc" 2> nul && set /P HTMLHELP= < "%TEMP%\hhc.loc" & del "%TEMP%\hhc.loc"
 if not exist "%HTMLHELP%" where /R "%ProgramFiles%" hhc > "%TEMP%\hhc.loc" 2> nul && set /P HTMLHELP= < "%TEMP%\hhc.loc" & del "%TEMP%\hhc.loc"
-if not exist "%HTMLHELP%" echo Cannot find HHC on PATH or in externals & exit /B 1
+if not exist "%HTMLHELP%" (
+    echo.
+    echo.The HTML Help Workshop was not found.  Set the HTMLHELP variable
+    echo.to the path to hhc.exe or download and install it from
+    echo.http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms669985
+    exit /B 1
+)
 :skiphhcsearch
 
 if "%DISTVERSION%" EQU "" for /f "usebackq" %%v in (`%PYTHON% tools/extensions/patchlevel.py`) do set DISTVERSION=%%v
@@ -85,15 +91,6 @@ if NOT "%PAPER%" == "" (
 cmd /C %SPHINXBUILD% %SPHINXOPTS% -b%1 -dbuild\doctrees . %BUILDDIR%\%*
 
 if "%1" EQU "htmlhelp" (
-    if  not exist "%HTMLHELP%" (
-        echo.
-        echo.The HTML Help Workshop was not found.  Set the HTMLHELP variable
-        echo.to the path to hhc.exe or download and install it from
-        echo.http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms669985
-        rem Set errorlevel to 1 and exit
-        cmd /C exit /b 1
-        goto end
-    )
     cmd /C "%HTMLHELP%" build\htmlhelp\python%DISTVERSION:.=%.hhp
     rem hhc.exe seems to always exit with code 1, reset to 0 for less than 2
     if not errorlevel 2 cmd /C exit /b 0
diff --git a/PCbuild/build.bat b/PCbuild/build.bat
index 17f8686b428..0fb01d777d7 100644
--- a/PCbuild/build.bat
+++ b/PCbuild/build.bat
@@ -25,24 +25,24 @@ set verbose=/nologo /v:m
 set kill=
 
 :CheckOpts
-if '%~1'=='-c' (set conf=%2) & shift & shift & goto CheckOpts
-if '%~1'=='-p' (set platf=%2) & shift & shift & goto CheckOpts
-if '%~1'=='-r' (set target=Rebuild) & shift & goto CheckOpts
-if '%~1'=='-t' (set target=%2) & shift & shift & goto CheckOpts
-if '%~1'=='-d' (set conf=Debug) & shift & goto CheckOpts
-if '%~1'=='-e' call "%dir%get_externals.bat" & shift & goto CheckOpts
-if '%~1'=='-m' (set parallel=/m) & shift & goto CheckOpts
-if '%~1'=='-M' (set parallel=) & shift & goto CheckOpts
-if '%~1'=='-v' (set verbose=/v:n) & shift & goto CheckOpts
-if '%~1'=='-k' (set kill=true) & shift & goto CheckOpts
-if '%~1'=='-V' shift & goto Version
+if "%~1"=="-c" (set conf=%2) & shift & shift & goto CheckOpts
+if "%~1"=="-p" (set platf=%2) & shift & shift & goto CheckOpts
+if "%~1"=="-r" (set target=Rebuild) & shift & goto CheckOpts
+if "%~1"=="-t" (set target=%2) & shift & shift & goto CheckOpts
+if "%~1"=="-d" (set conf=Debug) & shift & goto CheckOpts
+if "%~1"=="-e" call "%dir%get_externals.bat" & shift & goto CheckOpts
+if "%~1"=="-m" (set parallel=/m) & shift & goto CheckOpts
+if "%~1"=="-M" (set parallel=) & shift & goto CheckOpts
+if "%~1"=="-v" (set verbose=/v:n) & shift & goto CheckOpts
+if "%~1"=="-k" (set kill=true) & shift & goto CheckOpts
+if "%~1"=="-V" shift & goto Version
 
-if '%platf%'=='x64' (set vs_platf=x86_amd64)
+if "%platf%"=="x64" (set vs_platf=x86_amd64)
 
 rem Setup the environment
 call "%dir%env.bat" %vs_platf% >nul
 
-if '%kill%'=='true' (
+if "%kill%"=="true" (
     msbuild /v:m /nologo /target:KillPython "%pcbuild%\pythoncore.vcxproj" /p:Configuration=%conf% /p:Platform=%platf% /p:KillPython=true
 )