diff --git a/scripts/check-consistency.sh b/scripts/check-consistency.sh
index 97aaf9f..8ee879b 100755
--- a/scripts/check-consistency.sh
+++ b/scripts/check-consistency.sh
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ function matches_split_prefix() {
     for split_token in "$@"; do
         text_prefix="$text"
         until [[ -z "$text_prefix" ]]; do
-            if [[ "$expected" = "$text_prefix" ]]; then
+            if [[ "$text_prefix" =~ ^"$expected"[[:blank:]]*$ ]]; then
                 return 0
             else
                 next_text_prefix="${text_prefix%"$split_token"*}"
@@ -86,23 +86,21 @@ function check_issue()
     nlnet_id="$2"
     subtask_title="$3"
     subtask_body="$4"
-    if [[ -z "$FORGEJO_TOKEN" ]]; then
-        return
-    fi
     example_title="NLnet $nlnet_id $subtask_title"
     body_prefix="Issue for tracking progress of a subtask of [NLnet grant $nlnet_id]($(grant_url "$nlnet_id")):
 $subtask_title
 $subtask_body
 "
     body_suffix="" # TODO
-    example_body_middle=$'\n<!-- add additional content here if you like -->\n'
+    body_middle_comment=$'<!-- add additional content here if you like -->'
+    example_body_middle=$'\n'"$body_middle_comment"$'\n'
     function error() {
-        # emit escape sequence for a hyperlink to the issue
         bar="---------------------------------------------------------------------------"
         body="$body_prefix"
         body_middle="${example_body_middle%$'\n'}"
         body+="${body_middle#$'\n'}"
         body+="$body_suffix"
+        # emit escape sequence for a hyperlink to the issue
         printf '\n\n\e]8;;%s\e\\Issue #%s\e]8;;\e\\: error: %s\nExample Issue:\nTitle: %s\nDescription:\n%s\n%s\n%s\n' \
             "$(issue_url "$issue_number")" "$issue_number" "$*" \
             "$example_title" "$bar" "$body" "$bar" >&2
@@ -117,28 +115,33 @@ $subtask_body
             -H "Accept: application/json" \
             -H "Authorization: token $FORGEJO_TOKEN")" || error "can't retrieve issue"
     else
-        error "FORGEJO_TOKEN is not set, can't check issue (this is expected outside of CI)"
+        # emit escape sequence for a hyperlink to the issue
+        printf '\n\n\e]8;;%s\e\\Issue #%s\e]8;;\e\\: warning: %s\n' \
+            "$(issue_url "$issue_number")" "$issue_number" \
+            "FORGEJO_TOKEN is not set, can't check issue (this is expected outside of CI)" >&2
+        return
     fi
-    issue_title="$(echo "$issue_json" | jq -r '.title')"
-    issue_body="$(echo "$issue_json" | jq -r '.body')"
+    issue_title="$(echo "$issue_json" | jq -r '.title|gsub("\r\n"; "\n")')"
+    issue_body="$(echo "$issue_json" | jq -r '.body|gsub("\r\n"; "\n")')"
     [[ "$issue_title" =~ ^"NLnet $nlnet_id "(.*)$ ]] || error "title must start with \`NLnet $nlnet_id \`"
     issue_title_tail="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
-    split_punct=(',' '-' ';' ':')
+    split_punct=(',' '-' ';' ':' '. ')
     matches_split_prefix "$issue_title_tail" "$subtask_title" "${split_punct[@]}" || \
         error "issue title must be \`NLnet $nlnet_id \` followed by the subtask title, or a prefix of the subtask title that ends right before one of:$(printf ' `%s`' "${split_punct[@]}")"
     if [[ "$issue_body" =~ ^"$body_prefix".*"$body_suffix"$ ]]; then
         : # all good
-    elif [[ "$issue_body" =~ ^"$body_prefix"(.*)"$example_body_middle"(.*)$ || \
+    elif [[ "$issue_body" =~ ^"$body_prefix"(.*)"$body_middle_comment"(.*)$ || \
             "$issue_body" =~ ^"$body_prefix"(.*)()$ ]]; then
-        example_body_middle="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}$example_body_middle${BASH_REMATCH[2]}"
+        example_body_middle="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}$body_middle_comment${BASH_REMATCH[2]}"
         error "issue description is missing required suffix"
-    elif [[ "$issue_body" =~ ^(.*)"$example_body_middle"(.*)"$body_suffix"$ || \
+    elif [[ "$issue_body" =~ ^(.*)"$body_middle_comment"(.*)"$body_suffix"$ || \
             "$issue_body" =~ ^(.*)()"$body_suffix"$ ]]; then
-        example_body_middle="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}$example_body_middle${BASH_REMATCH[2]}"
+        printf '%q\n' "$body_prefix" "$issue_body"
+        example_body_middle="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}$body_middle_comment${BASH_REMATCH[2]}"
         error "issue description is missing required prefix"
-    elif [[ "$issue_body" =~ ^(.*)"$example_body_middle"(.*)$ || \
+    elif [[ "$issue_body" =~ ^(.*)"$body_middle_comment"(.*)$ || \
             "$issue_body" =~ ^(.*)()$ ]]; then
-        example_body_middle="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}$example_body_middle${BASH_REMATCH[2]}"
+        example_body_middle="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}$body_middle_comment${BASH_REMATCH[2]}"
         error "issue description is missing both the required prefix and suffix"
     fi
 )