diff --git a/hed/schema/hed_schema_io.py b/hed/schema/hed_schema_io.py
index 11980ed47..600f1dbad 100644
--- a/hed/schema/hed_schema_io.py
+++ b/hed/schema/hed_schema_io.py
@@ -173,9 +173,9 @@ def load_schema_version(xml_version=None, xml_folder=None):
         - The xml_version is not valid.
         - A fatal error was encountered in parsing
     """
+    # Check if we start and end with a square bracket, or double quote.  This might be valid json
     if xml_version and isinstance(xml_version, str) and \
-            ((xml_version.startswith("[") and xml_version.endswith("]")) or
-             (xml_version.startswith('"') and xml_version.endswith('"'))):
+        ((xml_version[0], xml_version[-1]) in [('[', ']'), ('"', '"')]):
         try:
             xml_version = json.loads(xml_version)
         except json.decoder.JSONDecodeError as e:
diff --git a/hed/schema/schema_io/wiki2schema.py b/hed/schema/schema_io/wiki2schema.py
index 500181d55..a02f9ed6e 100644
--- a/hed/schema/schema_io/wiki2schema.py
+++ b/hed/schema/schema_io/wiki2schema.py
@@ -339,9 +339,9 @@ def _remove_nowiki_tag_from_line(self, line_number, tag_line):
         """
         index1 = tag_line.find(no_wiki_start_tag)
         index2 = tag_line.find(no_wiki_end_tag)
-        if (index1 == -1 and index2 != -1) or (index2 == -1 and index1 != -1):
+        if index1 == -1 ^ index2 == -1:  # XOR operation, true if exactly one of the conditions is true
             self._add_fatal_error(line_number, tag_line, "Invalid or non matching <nowiki> tags found")
-        elif index1 != -1 and index2 != -1 and index2 <= index1:
+        elif index1 != -1 and index2 <= index1:
             self._add_fatal_error(line_number, tag_line, "</nowiki> appears before <nowiki> on a line")
         tag_line = re.sub(no_wiki_tag, '', tag_line)
         return tag_line