diff --git a/linkcheck/checker/__init__.py b/linkcheck/checker/__init__.py
index cf08f73b..a8db1326 100644
--- a/linkcheck/checker/__init__.py
+++ b/linkcheck/checker/__init__.py
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ def guess_url(url):
 
     @param url: the URL to check
     @type url: unicode
-    @return: url with http:// or ftp:// prepended if it's detected as
+    @return: url with *http://* or *ftp://* prepended if it's detected as
         a http respective ftp URL.
     @rtype: unicode
     """
diff --git a/linkcheck/checker/fileurl.py b/linkcheck/checker/fileurl.py
index e0450f07..19b075f5 100644
--- a/linkcheck/checker/fileurl.py
+++ b/linkcheck/checker/fileurl.py
@@ -44,8 +44,8 @@ def get_files(dirname):
 
 def prepare_urlpath_for_nt(path):
     """
-    URLs like 'file://server/path/' result in a path named '/server/path'.
-    However urllib.url2pathname expects '////server/path'.
+    URLs like *file://server/path/* result in a path named */server/path*.
+    However urllib.url2pathname expects *////server/path*.
     """
     if '|' not in path:
         return "////" + path.lstrip("/")
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ class FileUrl(urlbase.UrlBase):
 
     def build_base_url(self):
         """The URL is normed according to the platform:
-         - the base URL is made an absolute file:// URL
+         - the base URL is made an absolute *file://* URL
          - under Windows platform the drive specifier is normed
         """
         if self.base_url is None:
@@ -241,7 +241,7 @@ class FileUrl(urlbase.UrlBase):
 
     def get_os_filename(self):
         """
-        Construct os specific file path out of the file:// URL.
+        Construct os specific file path out of the *file://* URL.
 
         @return: file name
         @rtype: string
diff --git a/linkcheck/checker/proxysupport.py b/linkcheck/checker/proxysupport.py
index 8d2c49e7..f6a308d8 100644
--- a/linkcheck/checker/proxysupport.py
+++ b/linkcheck/checker/proxysupport.py
@@ -27,8 +27,8 @@ class ProxySupport:
 
     def set_proxy(self, proxy):
         """Parse given proxy information and store parsed values.
-        Note that only http:// proxies are supported, both for ftp://
-        and http:// URLs.
+        Note that only *http://* proxies are supported, both for *ftp://*
+        and *http://* URLs.
         """
         self.proxy = proxy
         self.proxytype = "http"
diff --git a/linkcheck/checker/urlbase.py b/linkcheck/checker/urlbase.py
index e55ee7aa..8d0bede0 100644
--- a/linkcheck/checker/urlbase.py
+++ b/linkcheck/checker/urlbase.py
@@ -328,11 +328,11 @@ class UrlBase:
         return self.ContentMimetypes.get(mime) == ctype
 
     def is_http(self):
-        """Return True for http:// or https:// URLs."""
+        """Return True for *http://* or *https://* URLs."""
         return self.scheme in ("http", "https")
 
     def is_file(self):
-        """Return True for file:// URLs."""
+        """Return True for *file://* URLs."""
         return self.scheme == "file"
 
     def is_directory(self):
@@ -340,7 +340,7 @@ class UrlBase:
         return False
 
     def is_local(self):
-        """Return True for local (ie. file://) URLs."""
+        """Return True for local (ie. *file://*) URLs."""
         return self.is_file()
 
     def add_warning(self, s, tag=None):