diff --git a/t/Makefile b/t/Makefile
index f4ae40be46..46cd5fc527 100644
--- a/t/Makefile
+++ b/t/Makefile
@@ -72,8 +72,8 @@ clean-chainlint:
 check-chainlint:
 	@mkdir -p '$(CHAINLINTTMP_SQ)' && \
 	sed -e '/^# LINT: /d' $(patsubst %,chainlint/%.test,$(CHAINLINTTESTS)) >'$(CHAINLINTTMP_SQ)'/tests && \
-	cat $(patsubst %,chainlint/%.expect,$(CHAINLINTTESTS)) >'$(CHAINLINTTMP_SQ)'/expect && \
-	$(CHAINLINT) '$(CHAINLINTTMP_SQ)'/tests >'$(CHAINLINTTMP_SQ)'/actual && \
+	sed -e '/^[ 	]*$$/d' $(patsubst %,chainlint/%.expect,$(CHAINLINTTESTS)) >'$(CHAINLINTTMP_SQ)'/expect && \
+	$(CHAINLINT) '$(CHAINLINTTMP_SQ)'/tests | grep -v '^[	]*$$' >'$(CHAINLINTTMP_SQ)'/actual && \
 	diff -u '$(CHAINLINTTMP_SQ)'/expect '$(CHAINLINTTMP_SQ)'/actual
 
 test-lint: test-lint-duplicates test-lint-executable test-lint-shell-syntax \
diff --git a/t/chainlint.sed b/t/chainlint.sed
index b1505ef2cd..dc4ce37cb5 100644
--- a/t/chainlint.sed
+++ b/t/chainlint.sed
@@ -131,11 +131,15 @@ b
 	h
 	bnextln
 }
-# "(..." line -- split off and stash "(", then process "..." as its own line
+# "(..." line -- "(" opening subshell cuddled with command; temporarily replace
+# "(" with sentinel "^" and process the line as if "(" had been seen solo on
+# the preceding line; this temporary replacement prevents several rules from
+# accidentally thinking "(" introduces a nested subshell; "^" is changed back
+# to "(" at output time
 x
-s/.*/(/
+s/.*//
 x
-s/(//
+s/(/^/
 bslurp
 
 :nextln
@@ -168,12 +172,12 @@ s/.*\n//
 	/"[^"]*#[^"]*"/!s/[ 	]#.*$//
 }
 # one-liner "case ... esac"
-/^[ 	]*case[ 	]*..*esac/bchkchn
+/^[ 	^]*case[ 	]*..*esac/bchkchn
 # multi-line "case ... esac"
-/^[ 	]*case[ 	]..*[ 	]in/bcase
+/^[ 	^]*case[ 	]..*[ 	]in/bcase
 # multi-line "for ... done" or "while ... done"
-/^[ 	]*for[ 	]..*[ 	]in/bcont
-/^[ 	]*while[ 	]/bcont
+/^[ 	^]*for[ 	]..*[ 	]in/bcont
+/^[ 	^]*while[ 	]/bcont
 /^[ 	]*do[ 	]/bcont
 /^[ 	]*do[ 	]*$/bcont
 /;[ 	]*do/bcont
@@ -184,7 +188,7 @@ s/.*\n//
 /||[ 	]*exit[ 	]/bcont
 /||[ 	]*exit[ 	]*$/bcont
 # multi-line "if...elsif...else...fi"
-/^[ 	]*if[ 	]/bcont
+/^[ 	^]*if[ 	]/bcont
 /^[ 	]*then[ 	]/bcont
 /^[ 	]*then[ 	]*$/bcont
 /;[ 	]*then/bcont
@@ -197,15 +201,15 @@ s/.*\n//
 /^[ 	]*fi[ 	]*[<>|]/bdone
 /^[ 	]*fi[ 	]*)/bdone
 # nested one-liner "(...) &&"
-/^[ 	]*(.*)[ 	]*&&[ 	]*$/bchkchn
+/^[ 	^]*(.*)[ 	]*&&[ 	]*$/bchkchn
 # nested one-liner "(...)"
-/^[ 	]*(.*)[ 	]*$/bchkchn
+/^[ 	^]*(.*)[ 	]*$/bchkchn
 # nested one-liner "(...) >x" (or "2>x" or "<x" or "|x")
-/^[ 	]*(.*)[ 	]*[0-9]*[<>|]/bchkchn
+/^[ 	^]*(.*)[ 	]*[0-9]*[<>|]/bchkchn
 # nested multi-line "(...\n...)"
-/^[ 	]*(/bnest
+/^[ 	^]*(/bnest
 # multi-line "{...\n...}"
-/^[ 	]*{/bblock
+/^[ 	^]*{/bblock
 # closing ")" on own line -- exit subshell
 /^[ 	]*)/bclssolo
 # "$((...))" -- arithmetic expansion; not closing ")"
@@ -237,6 +241,7 @@ s/.*\n//
 :cont
 # retrieve and print previous line
 x
+s/^\([ 	]*\)^/\1(/
 s/?!HERE?!/<</g
 n
 bslurp
@@ -292,6 +297,7 @@ bfolded
 # found "case ... in" -- pass through untouched
 :case
 x
+s/^\([ 	]*\)^/\1(/
 s/?!HERE?!/<</g
 n
 :cascom
@@ -326,6 +332,7 @@ bchkchn
 :nest
 x
 :nstslrp
+s/^\([ 	]*\)^/\1(/
 s/?!HERE?!/<</g
 n
 :nstcom
@@ -354,6 +361,7 @@ bchkchn
 # found multi-line "{...\n...}" block -- pass through untouched
 :block
 x
+s/^\([ 	]*\)^/\1(/
 s/?!HERE?!/<</g
 n
 :blkcom
@@ -371,17 +379,21 @@ bblock
 :clssolo
 x
 s/\( ?!AMP?!\)* ?!AMP?!$//
+s/^\([ 	]*\)^/\1(/
 s/?!HERE?!/<</g
 p
 x
+s/^\([ 	]*\)^/\1(/
 s/?!HERE?!/<</g
 b
 
 # found closing "...)" -- exit subshell loop
 :close
 x
+s/^\([ 	]*\)^/\1(/
 s/?!HERE?!/<</g
 p
 x
+s/^\([ 	]*\)^/\1(/
 s/?!HERE?!/<</g
 b
diff --git a/t/chainlint/close-nested-and-parent-together.expect b/t/chainlint/close-nested-and-parent-together.expect
index 5ef509eb49..72d482f76d 100644
--- a/t/chainlint/close-nested-and-parent-together.expect
+++ b/t/chainlint/close-nested-and-parent-together.expect
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-(
-cd foo &&
+(cd foo &&
 	(bar &&
 		baz))
diff --git a/t/chainlint/complex-if-in-cuddled-loop.expect b/t/chainlint/complex-if-in-cuddled-loop.expect
index b8aa626ed0..2fca183409 100644
--- a/t/chainlint/complex-if-in-cuddled-loop.expect
+++ b/t/chainlint/complex-if-in-cuddled-loop.expect
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
-(
-for i in a b c; do
+(for i in a b c; do
    if test "$(echo $(waffle bat))" = "eleventeen" &&
      test "$x" = "$y"; then
      :
diff --git a/t/chainlint/cuddled-if-then-else.expect b/t/chainlint/cuddled-if-then-else.expect
index 4e089b087a..1d8ed58c49 100644
--- a/t/chainlint/cuddled-if-then-else.expect
+++ b/t/chainlint/cuddled-if-then-else.expect
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
-(
-if test -z ""; then
+(if test -z ""; then
     echo empty
  else
     echo bizzy
diff --git a/t/chainlint/cuddled-loop.expect b/t/chainlint/cuddled-loop.expect
index 7932303763..9cf260708e 100644
--- a/t/chainlint/cuddled-loop.expect
+++ b/t/chainlint/cuddled-loop.expect
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
-(
- while read x
+( while read x
   do foobar bop || exit 1
   done <file ) &&
 outside subshell
diff --git a/t/chainlint/cuddled.expect b/t/chainlint/cuddled.expect
index 773476adc8..c3e0be4047 100644
--- a/t/chainlint/cuddled.expect
+++ b/t/chainlint/cuddled.expect
@@ -1,10 +1,8 @@
-(
-cd foo &&
+(cd foo &&
 	bar
 ) &&
 
-(
-cd foo ?!AMP?!
+(cd foo ?!AMP?!
 	bar
 ) &&
 
@@ -12,10 +10,8 @@ cd foo ?!AMP?!
 	cd foo &&
 	bar) &&
 
-(
-cd foo &&
+(cd foo &&
 	bar) &&
 
-(
-cd foo ?!AMP?!
+(cd foo ?!AMP?!
 	bar)
diff --git a/t/chainlint/inline-comment.expect b/t/chainlint/inline-comment.expect
index f6b42757d2..dd0dace077 100644
--- a/t/chainlint/inline-comment.expect
+++ b/t/chainlint/inline-comment.expect
@@ -4,6 +4,5 @@
 	flibble "not a # comment"
 ) &&
 
-(
-cd foo &&
+(cd foo &&
 	flibble "not a # comment")
diff --git a/t/chainlint/semicolon.expect b/t/chainlint/semicolon.expect
index 05141a96cf..ed0b3707ae 100644
--- a/t/chainlint/semicolon.expect
+++ b/t/chainlint/semicolon.expect
@@ -13,8 +13,7 @@
 (
 	foo;
 ) &&
-(
-cd foo &&
+(cd foo &&
 	for i in a b c; do
 		echo;
 	done)