diff --git a/client.c b/client.c
index 1c09991ad..4f2b64f25 100644
--- a/client.c
+++ b/client.c
@@ -769,7 +769,7 @@ static void
 client_markup_on_elem(markup_parser_data_t *p, const char *elem,
                       const char **names, const char **values)
 {
-    assert (!strcmp(elem, "title"));
+    assert(!a_strcmp(elem, "title"));
     buffer_add_xmlescaped(&p->text, p->priv);
 }
 
diff --git a/widgets/taglist.c b/widgets/taglist.c
index 58fe157a8..a570a5bcb 100644
--- a/widgets/taglist.c
+++ b/widgets/taglist.c
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ static void
 tag_markup_on_elem(markup_parser_data_t *p, const char *elem,
                       const char **names, const char **values)
 {
-    assert (!strcmp(elem, "title"));
+    assert(!a_strcmp(elem, "title"));
     buffer_add_xmlescaped(&p->text, p->priv);
 }
 
diff --git a/widgets/tasklist.c b/widgets/tasklist.c
index 887047dc4..fc8997383 100644
--- a/widgets/tasklist.c
+++ b/widgets/tasklist.c
@@ -77,9 +77,8 @@ tasklist_markup_on_elem(markup_parser_data_t *p, const char *elem,
     struct tasklist_hook_data *data = p->priv;
     draw_context_t *ctx = data->ctx;
 
-    assert(!strcmp(elem, "bg"));
+    assert(!a_strcmp(elem, "bg"));
     for(; *names; names++, values++)
-    {
         if(!a_strcmp(*names, "color"))
         {
             xcolor_t bg_color;
@@ -87,7 +86,6 @@ tasklist_markup_on_elem(markup_parser_data_t *p, const char *elem,
             draw_rectangle(ctx, *data->area, 1.0, true, bg_color);
             break;
         }
-    }
 }