diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 111a4233da..01a055815c 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -11,12 +11,11 @@ endif
 latest::
 	@if grep -l ' $$' *.md; then ! echo "Trailing whitespace found"; fi
 	@err=0; for f in draft-*.md ; do \
-	  line=$$(cat "$$f" | sed -e 's/[|].*[|]//' | wc -L); \
-	  if [ "$$line" -gt 80 ]; then \
-	    echo "$$f contains a line with >80 ($$line) characters"; err=1; \
+	  if grep -n '^.\{81\}' "$$f"; then \
+	    echo "$$f contains a line with >80 characters"; err=1; \
 	  fi; \
-	  figure=$$(sed -e '/^~~~/,/^~~~/p;d' "$$f" | wc -L); \
-	  if [ "$$figure" -gt 69 ]; then \
-	    echo "$$f contains a figure with >69 ($$figure) characters"; err=1; \
+	  if cat "$$f" | (l=0; while read -r a; do l=$$(($$l + 1)); echo -E "$$l:$$a"; done) | \
+	     sed -e '/^[0-9]*:~~~/,/^[0-9]*:~~~/p;d' | grep '^[0-9]*:.\{70\}'; then \
+	    echo "$$f contains a figure with >69 characters"; err=1; \
 	  fi; \
 	done; [ "$$err" -eq 0 ]