diff --git a/tests/clitest.py b/tests/clitest.py
index 2edc011ac..abdd9b921 100644
--- a/tests/clitest.py
+++ b/tests/clitest.py
@@ -156,13 +156,13 @@ class Command(object):
 
             exc = ""
             try:
-                if app.count("virt-install"):
+                if "virt-install" in app:
                     ret = virtinstall.main(conn=conn)
-                elif app.count("virt-clone"):
+                elif "virt-clone" in app:
                     ret = virtclone.main(conn=conn)
-                elif app.count("virt-convert"):
+                elif "virt-convert" in app:
                     ret = virtconvert.main(conn=conn)
-                elif app.count("virt-xml"):
+                elif "virt-xml" in app:
                     ret = virtxml.main(conn=conn)
             except SystemExit as sys_e:
                 ret = sys_e.code
@@ -316,13 +316,13 @@ class App(object):
 
         if iscompare and auto_printarg:
             if self.appname == "virt-install":
-                if (not cli.count("--print-xml") and
-                    not cli.count("--print-step") and
-                    not cli.count("--quiet")):
+                if ("--print-xml" not in cli and
+                    "--print-step" not in cli and
+                    "--quiet" not in cli):
                     args += " --print-step all"
 
             elif self.appname == "virt-clone":
-                if not cli.count("--print-xml"):
+                if "--print-xml" not in cli:
                     args += " --print-xml"
 
         return args
diff --git a/tests/test_urls.py b/tests/test_urls.py
index 3f595a53b..3864f776d 100644
--- a/tests/test_urls.py
+++ b/tests/test_urls.py
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ def _storeForDistro(fetcher, guest):
         try:
             return urlfetcher.getDistroStore(guest, fetcher)
         except Exception as e:
-            if str(e).count("502"):
+            if "502" in str(e):
                 logging.debug("Caught proxy error: %s", str(e))
                 time.sleep(.5)
                 continue
diff --git a/virtinst/cli.py b/virtinst/cli.py
index e001e02d3..2bcd88553 100644
--- a/virtinst/cli.py
+++ b/virtinst/cli.py
@@ -976,7 +976,7 @@ def parse_optstr_tuples(optstr):
         if not opt:
             continue
 
-        if opt.count("="):
+        if "=" in opt:
             cliname, val = opt.split("=", 1)
         else:
             cliname = opt
diff --git a/virtinst/cloner.py b/virtinst/cloner.py
index c4030ddfd..ede819db0 100644
--- a/virtinst/cloner.py
+++ b/virtinst/cloner.py
@@ -493,7 +493,7 @@ class Cloner(object):
         # If the suffix is greater than 7 characters, assume it isn't
         # a file extension and is part of the disk name, at which point
         # just stick '-clone' on the end.
-        if origpath.count(".") and len(origpath.rsplit(".", 1)[1]) <= 7:
+        if "." in origpath and len(origpath.rsplit(".", 1)[1]) <= 7:
             path, suffix = origpath.rsplit(".", 1)
             suffix = "." + suffix
 
diff --git a/virtinst/device.py b/virtinst/device.py
index 7118a1621..37d9364b8 100644
--- a/virtinst/device.py
+++ b/virtinst/device.py
@@ -59,12 +59,12 @@ class VirtualDeviceAddress(XMLBuilder):
         if addrstr is None:
             return
 
-        if addrstr.count(":") in [1, 2] and addrstr.count("."):
+        if addrstr.count(":") in [1, 2] and "." in addrstr:
             self.type = self.ADDRESS_TYPE_PCI
             addrstr, self.function = addrstr.split(".", 1)
             addrstr, self.slot = addrstr.rsplit(":", 1)
             self.domain = "0"
-            if addrstr.count(":"):
+            if ":" in addrstr:
                 self.domain, self.bus = addrstr.split(":", 1)
         elif addrstr == "spapr-vio":
             self.type = self.ADDRESS_TYPE_SPAPR_VIO
diff --git a/virtinst/hostkeymap.py b/virtinst/hostkeymap.py
index 6ab474fbd..9f8360d0a 100644
--- a/virtinst/hostkeymap.py
+++ b/virtinst/hostkeymap.py
@@ -78,9 +78,9 @@ def _sysconfig_keyboard(f):
             re.search("KEYTABLE", s) is not None or
            (re.search("KEYBOARD", s) is not None and
             re.search("KEYBOARDTYPE", s) is None)):
-            if s.count('"'):
+            if '"' in s:
                 delim = '"'
-            elif s.count('='):
+            elif '=' in s:
                 delim = '='
             else:
                 continue
diff --git a/virtinst/nodedev.py b/virtinst/nodedev.py
index f29dda871..e3080d69b 100644
--- a/virtinst/nodedev.py
+++ b/virtinst/nodedev.py
@@ -345,11 +345,11 @@ def _AddressStringToHostdev(conn, addrstr):
 
     try:
         # Determine addrstr type
-        if addrstr.count(":") in [1, 2] and addrstr.count("."):
+        if addrstr.count(":") in [1, 2] and "." in addrstr:
             addrstr, func = addrstr.split(".", 1)
             addrstr, slot = addrstr.rsplit(":", 1)
             domain = "0"
-            if addrstr.count(":"):
+            if ":" in addrstr:
                 domain, bus = addrstr.split(":", 1)
             else:
                 bus = addrstr
@@ -360,14 +360,14 @@ def _AddressStringToHostdev(conn, addrstr):
             hostdev.slot = "0x%.2X" % int(slot, 16)
             hostdev.bus = "0x%.2X" % int(bus, 16)
 
-        elif addrstr.count(":"):
+        elif ":" in addrstr:
             vendor, product = addrstr.split(":")
 
             hostdev.type = "usb"
             hostdev.vendor = "0x%.4X" % int(vendor, 16)
             hostdev.product = "0x%.4X" % int(product, 16)
 
-        elif addrstr.count("."):
+        elif "." in addrstr:
             bus, device = addrstr.split(".", 1)
 
             hostdev.type = "usb"
diff --git a/virtinst/xmlbuilder.py b/virtinst/xmlbuilder.py
index e79ad8308..2b5e3042f 100644
--- a/virtinst/xmlbuilder.py
+++ b/virtinst/xmlbuilder.py
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ def _sanitize_libxml_xml(xml):
     # Strip starting <?...> line
     if xml.startswith("<?"):
         ignore, xml = xml.split("\n", 1)
-    if not xml.endswith("\n") and xml.count("\n"):
+    if not xml.endswith("\n") and "\n" in xml:
         xml += "\n"
     return xml
 
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ def _add_pretty_child(parentnode, newnode):
     whitespace and nicely format the result.
     """
     def node_is_text(n):
-        return bool(n and n.type == "text" and not n.content.count("<"))
+        return bool(n and n.type == "text" and "<" not in n.content)
 
     def prevSibling(node):
         parent = node.get_parent()
@@ -266,7 +266,7 @@ def _remove_xpath_node(ctx, xpath, dofree=True):
         is_orig = (curxpath == xpath)
         node = _get_xpath_node(ctx, curxpath)
 
-        if curxpath.count("/"):
+        if "/" in curxpath:
             nextxpath, ignore = curxpath.rsplit("/", 1)
         else:
             nextxpath = None
@@ -289,7 +289,7 @@ def _remove_xpath_node(ctx, xpath, dofree=True):
 
         # Look for preceding whitespace and remove it
         white = node.get_prev()
-        if white and white.type == "text" and not white.content.count("<"):
+        if white and white.type == "text" and "<" not in white.content:
             white.unlinkNode()
             white.freeNode()