diff --git a/ChangeLog.txt b/ChangeLog.txt
index f7e7ef09..5f05cd56 100644
--- a/ChangeLog.txt
+++ b/ChangeLog.txt
@@ -7,7 +7,13 @@
   * Send HTTP Referer header for both http and https URLs.
     Type: feature
     Changed: linkcheck/checker/httpurl.py
-    
+
+  * The HTML and CSS syntax check now only applies to URLs
+    which match those given on the command line.
+    This makes checking of personal pages easier.
+    Type: feature
+    Changed: linkcheck/checker/urlbase.py
+
 4.9 "Michael Clayton" (released 25.4.2008)
 
   * Parse Shockwave Flash (SWF) for URLs to check
diff --git a/linkcheck/checker/urlbase.py b/linkcheck/checker/urlbase.py
index 6f78da0f..e60e1b47 100644
--- a/linkcheck/checker/urlbase.py
+++ b/linkcheck/checker/urlbase.py
@@ -423,10 +423,10 @@ class UrlBase (object):
                 value = self.handle_exception()
                 self.set_result(unicode_safe(value), valid=False)
         # check HTML/CSS syntax
-        if self.valid:
-            if self.is_html() and self.aggregate.config["checkhtml"]:
+        if self.valid and not self.extern[0]:
+            if self.aggregate.config["checkhtml"] and self.is_html():
                 self.check_html()
-            if self.is_css() and self.aggregate.config["checkcss"]:
+            if self.aggregate.config["checkcss"] and self.is_css():
                 self.check_css()
         self.checktime = time.time() - check_start
         # check recursion