diff --git a/internal/core/config.go b/internal/core/config.go
index 5d029303..21f9fb47 100644
--- a/internal/core/config.go
+++ b/internal/core/config.go
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ func (c *Config) addWordList(r io.Reader, accept bool) error {
 	scanner := bufio.NewScanner(r)
 	for scanner.Scan() {
 		word := strings.TrimSpace(scanner.Text())
-		if len(word) == 0 || strings.HasPrefix(word, "# ") {
+		if len(word) == 0 || strings.HasPrefix(word, "# ") { //nolint:gocritic
 			continue
 		} else if accept {
 			if _, ok := c.AcceptedTokens[word]; !ok {
@@ -130,10 +130,7 @@ func (c *Config) addWordList(r io.Reader, accept bool) error {
 			}
 		}
 	}
-	if err := scanner.Err(); err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	return nil
+	return scanner.Err()
 }
 
 func (c *Config) String() string {
diff --git a/internal/core/error.go b/internal/core/error.go
index 3753a004..2822c927 100644
--- a/internal/core/error.go
+++ b/internal/core/error.go
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ func annotate(file []byte, target string, finder errorCondition) (lineError, err
 	for scanner.Scan() {
 		markup := scanner.Text()
 		plain := StripANSI(markup)
-		if idx-context.line > 2 && context.line != 0 {
+		if idx-context.line > 2 && context.line != 0 { //nolint:gocritic
 			break
 		} else if finder(idx, plain, target) && context.line == 0 {
 			context.line = idx
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ func annotate(file []byte, target string, finder errorCondition) (lineError, err
 
 // NewError creates a colored error from the given information.
 //
-// The standard format is
+// # The standard format is
 //
 // ```
 // <code> [<context>] <title>
@@ -102,10 +102,6 @@ func NewE201(msg, value, path string, finder errorCondition) error {
 		return NewE100("NewE201", errors.New(msg))
 	}
 
-	if err != nil {
-		return NewE100("NewE201/Highlight", err)
-	}
-
 	ctx, err := annotate(f, value, finder)
 	if err != nil {
 		return NewE100("NewE201/annotate", err)
diff --git a/internal/core/file.go b/internal/core/file.go
index 6bde218a..87d34483 100755
--- a/internal/core/file.go
+++ b/internal/core/file.go
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ func (f *File) ComputeMetrics() (map[string]interface{}, error) {
 		if strings.HasPrefix(k, "table") {
 			continue
 		}
-		k = strings.Replace(k, ".", "_", -1)
+		k = strings.ReplaceAll(k, ".", "_")
 		params[k] = float64(v)
 	}
 
@@ -259,8 +259,8 @@ func (f *File) AddAlert(a Alert, blk nlp.Block, lines, pad int, lookup bool) {
 
 			if _, found := f.history[entry]; !found {
 				// Check rule-assigned limits for reporting:
-				count, found := f.limits[a.Check]
-				if (!found || a.Limit == 0) || count < a.Limit {
+				count, occur := f.limits[a.Check]
+				if (!occur || a.Limit == 0) || count < a.Limit {
 					f.Alerts = append(f.Alerts, a)
 
 					f.history[entry] = 1
@@ -275,7 +275,7 @@ func (f *File) AddAlert(a Alert, blk nlp.Block, lines, pad int, lookup bool) {
 
 // UpdateComments sets a new status based on comment.
 func (f *File) UpdateComments(comment string) {
-	if comment == "vale off" {
+	if comment == "vale off" { //nolint:gocritic
 		f.Comments["off"] = true
 	} else if comment == "vale on" {
 		f.Comments["off"] = false
diff --git a/internal/core/ini.go b/internal/core/ini.go
index b640ff34..16eac5de 100644
--- a/internal/core/ini.go
+++ b/internal/core/ini.go
@@ -39,45 +39,45 @@ var syntaxOpts = map[string]func(string, *ini.Section, *Config) error{
 
 		return nil
 	},
-	"IgnorePatterns": func(label string, sec *ini.Section, cfg *Config) error {
+	"IgnorePatterns": func(label string, sec *ini.Section, cfg *Config) error { //nolint:unparam
 		cfg.BlockIgnores[label] = sec.Key("IgnorePatterns").Strings(",")
 		return nil
 	},
-	"BlockIgnores": func(label string, sec *ini.Section, cfg *Config) error {
+	"BlockIgnores": func(label string, sec *ini.Section, cfg *Config) error { //nolint:unparam
 		cfg.BlockIgnores[label] = mergeValues(sec.Key("BlockIgnores").StringsWithShadows(","))
 		return nil
 	},
-	"TokenIgnores": func(label string, sec *ini.Section, cfg *Config) error {
+	"TokenIgnores": func(label string, sec *ini.Section, cfg *Config) error { //nolint:unparam
 		cfg.TokenIgnores[label] = mergeValues(sec.Key("TokenIgnores").StringsWithShadows(","))
 		return nil
 	},
-	"Transform": func(label string, sec *ini.Section, cfg *Config) error {
+	"Transform": func(label string, sec *ini.Section, cfg *Config) error { //nolint:unparam
 		candidate := sec.Key("Transform").String()
 		cfg.Stylesheets[label] = determinePath(cfg.Flags.Path, candidate)
 		return nil
 
 	},
-	"Lang": func(label string, sec *ini.Section, cfg *Config) error {
+	"Lang": func(label string, sec *ini.Section, cfg *Config) error { //nolint:unparam
 		cfg.FormatToLang[label] = sec.Key("Lang").String()
 		return nil
 	},
 }
 
 var globalOpts = map[string]func(*ini.Section, *Config, []string){
-	"BasedOnStyles": func(sec *ini.Section, cfg *Config, args []string) {
+	"BasedOnStyles": func(sec *ini.Section, cfg *Config, _ []string) {
 		cfg.GBaseStyles = mergeValues(sec.Key("BasedOnStyles").StringsWithShadows(","))
 		cfg.Styles = append(cfg.Styles, cfg.GBaseStyles...)
 	},
-	"IgnorePatterns": func(sec *ini.Section, cfg *Config, args []string) {
+	"IgnorePatterns": func(sec *ini.Section, cfg *Config, _ []string) {
 		cfg.BlockIgnores["*"] = sec.Key("IgnorePatterns").Strings(",")
 	},
-	"BlockIgnores": func(sec *ini.Section, cfg *Config, args []string) {
+	"BlockIgnores": func(sec *ini.Section, cfg *Config, _ []string) {
 		cfg.BlockIgnores["*"] = mergeValues(sec.Key("BlockIgnores").StringsWithShadows(","))
 	},
-	"TokenIgnores": func(sec *ini.Section, cfg *Config, args []string) {
+	"TokenIgnores": func(sec *ini.Section, cfg *Config, _ []string) {
 		cfg.TokenIgnores["*"] = mergeValues(sec.Key("TokenIgnores").StringsWithShadows(","))
 	},
-	"Lang": func(sec *ini.Section, cfg *Config, args []string) {
+	"Lang": func(sec *ini.Section, cfg *Config, _ []string) {
 		cfg.FormatToLang["*"] = sec.Key("Lang").String()
 	},
 }
@@ -106,9 +106,9 @@ var coreOpts = map[string]func(*ini.Section, *Config, []string) error{
 		}
 		return nil
 	},
-	"MinAlertLevel": func(sec *ini.Section, cfg *Config, args []string) error {
+	"MinAlertLevel": func(sec *ini.Section, cfg *Config, _ []string) error {
 		if !StringInSlice(cfg.Flags.AlertLevel, AlertLevels) {
-			level := sec.Key("MinAlertLevel").String() //.In("suggestion", AlertLevels)
+			level := sec.Key("MinAlertLevel").String() // .In("suggestion", AlertLevels)
 			if index, found := LevelToInt[level]; found {
 				cfg.MinAlertLevel = index
 			} else {
@@ -120,27 +120,27 @@ var coreOpts = map[string]func(*ini.Section, *Config, []string) error{
 		}
 		return nil
 	},
-	"IgnoredScopes": func(sec *ini.Section, cfg *Config, args []string) error {
+	"IgnoredScopes": func(sec *ini.Section, cfg *Config, _ []string) error { //nolint:unparam
 		cfg.IgnoredScopes = mergeValues(sec.Key("IgnoredScopes").StringsWithShadows(","))
 		return nil
 	},
-	"WordTemplate": func(sec *ini.Section, cfg *Config, args []string) error {
+	"WordTemplate": func(sec *ini.Section, cfg *Config, _ []string) error { //nolint:unparam
 		cfg.WordTemplate = sec.Key("WordTemplate").String()
 		return nil
 	},
-	"DictionaryPath": func(sec *ini.Section, cfg *Config, args []string) error {
+	"DictionaryPath": func(sec *ini.Section, cfg *Config, _ []string) error { //nolint:unparam
 		cfg.DictionaryPath = sec.Key("DictionaryPath").String()
 		return nil
 	},
-	"SkippedScopes": func(sec *ini.Section, cfg *Config, args []string) error {
+	"SkippedScopes": func(sec *ini.Section, cfg *Config, _ []string) error { //nolint:unparam
 		cfg.SkippedScopes = mergeValues(sec.Key("SkippedScopes").StringsWithShadows(","))
 		return nil
 	},
-	"IgnoredClasses": func(sec *ini.Section, cfg *Config, args []string) error {
+	"IgnoredClasses": func(sec *ini.Section, cfg *Config, _ []string) error { //nolint:unparam
 		cfg.IgnoredClasses = mergeValues(sec.Key("IgnoredClasses").StringsWithShadows(","))
 		return nil
 	},
-	"Vocab": func(sec *ini.Section, cfg *Config, args []string) error {
+	"Vocab": func(sec *ini.Section, cfg *Config, _ []string) error {
 		cfg.Vocab = mergeValues(sec.Key("Vocab").StringsWithShadows(","))
 		for _, v := range cfg.Vocab {
 			if err := loadVocab(v, cfg); err != nil {
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ var coreOpts = map[string]func(*ini.Section, *Config, []string) error{
 		}
 		return nil
 	},
-	"NLPEndpoint": func(sec *ini.Section, cfg *Config, args []string) error {
+	"NLPEndpoint": func(sec *ini.Section, cfg *Config, _ []string) error { //nolint:unparam
 		cfg.NLPEndpoint = sec.Key("NLPEndpoint").MustString("")
 		return nil
 	},
@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ func loadINI(cfg *Config, dry bool) error {
 	}
 
 	fromEnv, hasEnv := os.LookupEnv("VALE_CONFIG_PATH")
-	if cfg.Flags.Sources != "" {
+	if cfg.Flags.Sources != "" { //nolint:gocritic
 		// We have multiple sources -- e.g., local config + remote package(s).
 		//
 		// See fixtures/config.feature#451 for an explanation of how this has
@@ -300,7 +300,7 @@ func processConfig(uCfg *ini.File, cfg *Config, paths []string, dry bool) error
 			if err := f(core, cfg, paths); err != nil && !dry {
 				return err
 			}
-		} else if _, found := syntaxOpts[k]; found {
+		} else if _, found = syntaxOpts[k]; found {
 			msg := fmt.Sprintf("'%s' is a syntax-specific option", k)
 			return NewE201FromTarget(msg, k, cfg.RootINI)
 		}
@@ -320,7 +320,7 @@ func processConfig(uCfg *ini.File, cfg *Config, paths []string, dry bool) error
 	for _, k := range global.KeyStrings() {
 		if f, found := globalOpts[k]; found {
 			f(global, cfg, paths)
-		} else if _, found := syntaxOpts[k]; found {
+		} else if _, found = syntaxOpts[k]; found {
 			msg := fmt.Sprintf("'%s' is a syntax-specific option", k)
 			return NewE201FromTarget(msg, k, cfg.RootINI)
 		} else {
diff --git a/internal/core/source.go b/internal/core/source.go
index 716ab547..309cc851 100644
--- a/internal/core/source.go
+++ b/internal/core/source.go
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ func ReadPipeline(provider string, flags *CLIFlags, dry bool) (*Config, error) {
 	config, err := NewConfig(flags)
 	if err != nil {
 		return config, err
-	} else if err := validateFlags(config); err != nil {
+	} else if err = validateFlags(config); err != nil {
 		return config, err
 	}
 
diff --git a/internal/core/util.go b/internal/core/util.go
index d1a26c89..5d1c9356 100755
--- a/internal/core/util.go
+++ b/internal/core/util.go
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ func StripANSI(s string) string {
 // WhitespaceToSpace converts newlines and multiple spaces (e.g., "  ") into a
 // single space.
 func WhitespaceToSpace(msg string) string {
-	msg = strings.Replace(msg, "\n", " ", -1)
+	msg = strings.ReplaceAll(msg, "\n", " ")
 	msg = spaces.ReplaceAllString(msg, " ")
 	return msg
 }
@@ -205,7 +205,7 @@ func AllStringsInSlice(strings []string, slice []string) bool {
 }
 
 // SplitLines splits on CRLF, CR not followed by LF, and LF.
-func SplitLines(data []byte, atEOF bool) (adv int, token []byte, err error) {
+func SplitLines(data []byte, atEOF bool) (adv int, token []byte, err error) { //nolint:nonamedreturns
 	if atEOF && len(data) == 0 {
 		return 0, nil, nil
 	}