diff --git a/scripts/__init__.py b/scripts/__init__.py
index e69de29bb..9d5680938 100644
--- a/scripts/__init__.py
+++ b/scripts/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+"""Various scripts used to develop/install qutebrowser."""
diff --git a/scripts/cleanup.py b/scripts/cleanup.py
index 001ec0452..f74cc5b93 100644
--- a/scripts/cleanup.py
+++ b/scripts/cleanup.py
@@ -32,14 +32,16 @@ lint = ['build', 'dist', 'pkg/pkg', 'pkg/qutebrowser-*.pkg.tar.xz', 'pkg/src',
         'setuptools-*.zip']
 
 
-
 def remove(path):
+    """Remove either a file or directory unless --dry-run is given."""
     if os.path.isdir(path):
         print("rm -r '{}'".format(path))
-        if not '--dry-run' in sys.argv: shutil.rmtree(path)
+        if not '--dry-run' in sys.argv:
+            shutil.rmtree(path)
     else:
         print("rm '{}'".format(path))
-        if not '--dry-run' in sys.argv: os.remove(path)
+        if not '--dry-run' in sys.argv:
+            os.remove(path)
 
 
 for elem in lint:
diff --git a/scripts/freeze.py b/scripts/freeze.py
index 6f70c616a..0f2ef0d69 100644
--- a/scripts/freeze.py
+++ b/scripts/freeze.py
@@ -80,8 +80,8 @@ executable = Executable('qutebrowser/__main__.py', base=base,
 try:
     write_git_file()
     setup(
-        executables = [executable],
-        options = {
+        executables=[executable],
+        options={
             'build_exe': build_exe_options,
             'bdist_msi': bdist_msi_options,
         },
diff --git a/scripts/run_checks.py b/scripts/run_checks.py
index 328e95dcf..f3dd4b9e1 100755
--- a/scripts/run_checks.py
+++ b/scripts/run_checks.py
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@
 # You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 # along with qutebrowser.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
+# pylint: disable=broad-except
+
 """ Run different codecheckers over a codebase.
 
 Runs flake8, pylint, pep257, a CRLF/whitespace/conflict-checker and pyroma by
@@ -71,6 +73,7 @@ if os.name == 'nt':
     # arrows in configdata.py
     options['exclude_pep257'].append('configdata.py')
 
+
 def run(name, target, args=None):
     """Run a checker via distutils with optional args.
 
@@ -122,18 +125,20 @@ def check_pep257(target, args=None):
 
 
 def check_unittest():
+    """Run the unittest checker."""
     print("==================== unittest ====================")
     suite = unittest.TestLoader().discover('.')
     result = unittest.TextTestRunner().run(suite)
     print()
     status['unittest'] = result.wasSuccessful()
 
+
 def check_line(target):
     """Run _check_file over a filetree."""
     print("------ line ------")
     ret = []
     try:
-        for (dirpath, dirnames, filenames) in os.walk(target):
+        for (dirpath, _dirnames, filenames) in os.walk(target):
             for name in (e for e in filenames if e.endswith('.py')):
                 fn = os.path.join(dirpath, name)
                 ret.append(_check_file(fn))
@@ -170,6 +175,7 @@ def _get_args(checker):
     Return:
         A list of commandline arguments.
     """
+    # pylint: disable=too-many-branches
     args = []
     if checker == 'pylint':
         try:
@@ -206,7 +212,7 @@ def _get_args(checker):
         except KeyError:
             pass
         try:
-            args += ['--match=(?!{}).*\.py'.format('|'.join(
+            args += [r'--match=(?!{}).*\.py'.format('|'.join(
                 options['exclude'] + options['exclude_pep257']))]
         except KeyError:
             pass
@@ -220,14 +226,14 @@ def _get_args(checker):
 
 
 check_unittest()
-for target in options['targets']:
-    print("==================== {} ====================".format(target))
+for trg in options['targets']:
+    print("==================== {} ====================".format(trg))
     if do_check_257:
-        check_pep257(target, _get_args('pep257'))
-    for checker in ['pylint', 'flake8', 'pyroma']:
+        check_pep257(trg, _get_args('pep257'))
+    for chk in ['pylint', 'flake8', 'pyroma']:
         # FIXME what the hell is the flake8 exit status?
-        run(checker, target, _get_args(checker))
-    check_line(target, )
+        run(chk, trg, _get_args(chk))
+    check_line(trg, )
 
 print("Exit status values:")
 for (k, v) in status.items():
diff --git a/scripts/run_profile.py b/scripts/run_profile.py
index 988a8a1a6..bc567044a 100755
--- a/scripts/run_profile.py
+++ b/scripts/run_profile.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ from shutil import rmtree
 
 sys.path.insert(0, getcwd())
 
-from qutebrowser.app import QuteBrowser
+from qutebrowser.app import QuteBrowser  # pylint: disable=unused-import
 
 tempdir = mkdtemp()
 
diff --git a/scripts/setupcommon.py b/scripts/setupcommon.py
index 4f91bb02e..b1d66b311 100644
--- a/scripts/setupcommon.py
+++ b/scripts/setupcommon.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 # along with qutebrowser.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
 
-"""Data used by setup.py and scripts/freeze.py"""
+"""Data used by setup.py and scripts/freeze.py."""
 
 import sys
 import os
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ except NameError:
 
 
 def read_file(name):
+    """Get the string contained in the file named name."""
     with open(name, encoding='utf-8') as f:
         return f.read()
 
@@ -58,6 +59,7 @@ def _git_str():
 
 
 def write_git_file():
+    """Write the git-commit-id file with the current commit."""
     gitstr = _git_str()
     if gitstr is None:
         gitstr = ''