diff --git a/plugins/Alias.py b/plugins/Alias.py
index 4b1fe786d..457d44af1 100644
--- a/plugins/Alias.py
+++ b/plugins/Alias.py
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ def findBiggestDollar(alias):
 def makeNewAlias(name, alias):
     if findAliasCommand(name, alias):
         raise RecursiveAlias
-    doChannel = alias.find('$channel') != -1
+    doChannel = '$channel' in alias
     biggestDollar = findBiggestDollar(alias)
     doDollars = bool(biggestDollar)
     if biggestDollar is not None:
diff --git a/plugins/Friendly.py b/plugins/Friendly.py
index 092045fcc..cdec2c58e 100755
--- a/plugins/Friendly.py
+++ b/plugins/Friendly.py
@@ -39,12 +39,12 @@ import callbacks
 class Friendly(callbacks.PrivmsgRegexp):
     def greet(self, irc, msg, match):
         "(?:heya?|(?:w(?:hat'?s\b|as)s?up)|howdy|hi|hello)"
-        if msg.args[1].find(irc.nick) != -1:
+        if irc.nick in msg.args[1]:
             irc.queueMsg(ircmsgs.privmsg(msg.args[0], 'howdy :)'))
 
     def goodbye(self, irc, msg, match):
         "(?:good)?bye|adios|vale|ciao|au revoir|seeya|night"
-        if msg.args[1].find(irc.nick) != -1:
+        if irc.nick in msg.args[1]:
             irc.queueMsg(ircmsgs.privmsg(msg.args[0], 'seeya, d00d!'))
 
     def exclaim(self, irc, msg, match):
diff --git a/plugins/FunDB.py b/plugins/FunDB.py
index c84fa8f12..8273f0ffb 100755
--- a/plugins/FunDB.py
+++ b/plugins/FunDB.py
@@ -344,7 +344,7 @@ class FunDB(callbacks.Privmsg):
         be "addlart chops $who in half with an AOL cd."
         """
         lart = privmsgs.getArgs(args)
-        if lart.find('$who') == -1:
+        if '$who' in lart:
             irc.error(msg, 'There must be an $who in the lart somewhere.')
             return
         cursor = self.db.cursor()
@@ -431,7 +431,7 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
             cursor.execute("""PRAGMA cache_size = 50000""")
             addWord(db, line)
         elif category == 'larts':
-            if line.find('$who') != -1:
+            if '$who' in line:
                 cursor.execute("""INSERT INTO larts VALUES (NULL, %s)""", line)
             else:
                 print 'Invalid lart: %s' % line
diff --git a/plugins/Gameknot.py b/plugins/Gameknot.py
index 0a6f29183..c023369b7 100644
--- a/plugins/Gameknot.py
+++ b/plugins/Gameknot.py
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ class Gameknot(callbacks.PrivmsgCommandAndRegexp):
             games = self._gkgames.search(profile).group(1)
             (w, l, d) = self._gkrecord.search(profile).groups()
             seen = self._gkseen.search(utils.htmlToText(profile))
-            if seen.group(0).find("is hiding") != -1:
+            if 'is hiding' in seen.group(0):
                 seen = '%s is hiding his/her online status.' % name
             elif seen.group(2).startswith('0'):
                 seen = '%s is on gameknot right now.' % name
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ class Gameknot(callbacks.PrivmsgCommandAndRegexp):
                 games = '1 active game'
             else:
                 games = '%s active games' % games
-            if profile.find('Team:') >= 0:
+            if 'Team:' in profile:
                 team = self._gkteam.search(profile).group('name')
                 irc.reply(msg, '%s (team: %s) is rated %s and has %s ' \
                           'and a record of W-%s, L-%s, D-%s.  %s' % \
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ class Gameknot(callbacks.PrivmsgCommandAndRegexp):
                           'and a record of W-%s, L-%s, D-%s.  %s' % \
                           (name, rating, games, w, l, d, seen))
         except AttributeError:
-            if profile.find('User %s not found!' % name) != -1:
+            if ('User %s not found!' % name) in profile:
                 irc.error(msg, 'No user %s exists.' % name)
             else:
                 irc.error(msg, 'The format of the page was odd.')
diff --git a/plugins/Http.py b/plugins/Http.py
index d2651a2c8..836469531 100644
--- a/plugins/Http.py
+++ b/plugins/Http.py
@@ -305,7 +305,7 @@ class Http(callbacks.Privmsg):
             html = m.group(1)
             s = utils.htmlToText(html, tagReplace='').strip('\xa0 ')
             irc.reply(msg, s[9:]) # Snip off "the site"
-        elif html.find('We could not get any results') != -1:
+        elif 'We could not get any results' in html:
             irc.reply(msg, 'No results found for %s.' % hostname)
         else:
             irc.error(msg, 'The format of the was odd.')
diff --git a/plugins/NickServ.py b/plugins/NickServ.py
index 569ffca66..a6f8882fe 100644
--- a/plugins/NickServ.py
+++ b/plugins/NickServ.py
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ class NickServ(privmsgs.CapabilityCheckingPrivmsg):
                     # NickServ told us the nick is registered.
                     identify = 'IDENTIFY %s' % self.password
                     irc.queueMsg(ircmsgs.privmsg(self.nickserv, identify))
-                elif msg.args[1].find('recognized') != -1:
+                elif 'recognized' in msg.args[1]:
                     self.sentGhost = False
                 elif self._ghosted.search(msg.args[1]):
                     # NickServ told us the nick has been ghost-killed.
diff --git a/plugins/OSU.py b/plugins/OSU.py
index 203b0fc83..1aa4db00a 100644
--- a/plugins/OSU.py
+++ b/plugins/OSU.py
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ class OSU(callbacks.Privmsg):
             emails = []
             for line in data.splitlines():
                 line.strip()
-                if line.find('Published address') != -1:
+                if 'Published address' in line:
                     emails.append(line.split()[-1])
             if emails:
                 irc.reply(msg, 'Possible matches: %s' % ', '.join(emails))
diff --git a/plugins/Relay.py b/plugins/Relay.py
index bb463847a..34d1faa30 100644
--- a/plugins/Relay.py
+++ b/plugins/Relay.py
@@ -382,9 +382,9 @@ class Relay(callbacks.Privmsg):
             rAction = re.compile(r'\* [^/]+@(?:%s) ' % '|'.join(abbreviations))
             if not (rPrivmsg.match(msg.args[1]) or \
                     rAction.match(msg.args[1]) or \
-                    msg.args[1].find('has left on ') != -1 or \
-                    msg.args[1].find('has joined on ') != -1 or \
-                    msg.args[1].find('has quit') != -1 or \
+                    'has left on ' in msg.args[1] or \
+                    'has joined on ' in msg.args[1] or \
+                    'has quit' in msg.args[1] or \
                     msg.args[1].startswith('mode change') or \
                     msg.args[1].startswith('nick change')):
                 channel = msg.args[0]
diff --git a/plugins/ThreadedFunCommands.py b/plugins/ThreadedFunCommands.py
index a22eb04ed..ef4cf3c87 100644
--- a/plugins/ThreadedFunCommands.py
+++ b/plugins/ThreadedFunCommands.py
@@ -71,9 +71,9 @@ class ThreadedFunCommands(callbacks.Privmsg):
         text = conn.read_all()
         for line in text.splitlines():
             (name, version) = line.split(':')
-            if name.find('latest stable') != -1:
+            if 'latest stable' in name:
                 stable = version.strip()
-            elif name.find('latest beta') != -1:
+            elif 'latest beta' in name:
                 beta = version.strip()
         irc.reply(msg, 'The latest stable kernel is %s; ' \
                        'the latest beta kernel is %s.' % (stable, beta))
diff --git a/plugins/Topic.py b/plugins/Topic.py
index 3e7056785..a56649221 100644
--- a/plugins/Topic.py
+++ b/plugins/Topic.py
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ class Topic(callbacks.Privmsg):
         capability = ircdb.makeChannelCapability(channel, 'topic')
         topic = privmsgs.getArgs(args)
         if ircdb.checkCapability(msg.prefix, capability):
-            if topic.find(self.topicSeparator) != -1:
+            if self.topicSeparator in topic:
                 s = 'You can\'t have %s in your topic' % self.topicSeparator
                 irc.error(msg, s)
                 return
diff --git a/src/bot.py b/src/bot.py
index b12b45b7b..93e99663e 100755
--- a/src/bot.py
+++ b/src/bot.py
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ def processConfigFile(filename):
         nick = d['nick']
         server = d['server']
         password = d['password']
-        if server.find(':') != -1:
+        if ':' in server:
             (server, port) = server.split(':', 1)
             try:
                 server = (server, int(port))
diff --git a/src/ircmsgs.py b/src/ircmsgs.py
index d85f68081..e41f683d2 100644
--- a/src/ircmsgs.py
+++ b/src/ircmsgs.py
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ class IrcMsg(object):
                 self.prefix, s = s[1:].split(None, 1)
             else:
                 self.prefix = ''
-            if s.find(' :') != -1:
+            if ' :' in s:
                 s, last = s.split(' :', 1)
                 self.args = s.split()
                 self.args.append(last.rstrip('\r\n'))
@@ -186,6 +186,12 @@ class IrcMsg(object):
     def __setstate__(self, s):
         self.__init__(s)
 
+try:
+    import _ircmsg
+    IrcMsg = _ircmsg.IrcMsg
+except:
+    pass
+
 
 def isAction(msg):
     """A predicate returning true if the PRIVMSG in question is an ACTION"""
diff --git a/src/ircutils.py b/src/ircutils.py
index a2490c8ec..5966ec9fd 100644
--- a/src/ircutils.py
+++ b/src/ircutils.py
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ def isUserHostmask(s):
 
 def isServerHostmask(s):
     """Returns True if s is a valid server hostmask."""
-    return (not isUserHostmask(s) and s.find('!') == -1 and s.find('@') == -1)
+    return not isUserHostmask(s)
 
 def nickFromHostmask(hostmask):
     """Returns the nick from a user hostmask."""