diff --git a/bin/tools/HookFunctions b/bin/tools/HookFunctions
index 76ea7b3643..565ef123f7 100644
--- a/bin/tools/HookFunctions
+++ b/bin/tools/HookFunctions
@@ -103,7 +103,6 @@ dictBanner="(\
 )*?
 \\\\\*---------------------------------------------------------------------------\*/"
 
-
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 #
@@ -399,7 +398,7 @@ checkBanner()
     for f in $fileList
     do
         fFile="${f##*/}"
-        [[ "$fFile" = *.* ]] && fExt="${fFile##*.}" || fExt=""
+        [[ "$fFile" = "*.*" ]] && fExt="${fFile##*.}" || fExt=""
 
         # Skip links
         if [ -h "$f" ]
diff --git a/bin/tools/pre-commit-hook b/bin/tools/pre-commit-hook
index d2d15b92e8..2ed5166c4d 100755
--- a/bin/tools/pre-commit-hook
+++ b/bin/tools/pre-commit-hook
@@ -98,10 +98,9 @@ fi
 
 #------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Main code. Do all checks.
-#
 
 # Builtin whitespace check to avoid trailing space, including CR-LF endings
-bad=$(git diff-index --cached --check $against --) || die "$bad"
+bad=$(git diff-index --cached --check $against -- ':(exclude)*.md') || die "$bad"
 
 # Check for illegal code, e.g. <TAB>, etc
 checkIllegalCode