diff --git a/Doc/tools/rstlint.py b/Doc/tools/rstlint.py
index e7afc05..1c84473 100755
--- a/Doc/tools/rstlint.py
+++ b/Doc/tools/rstlint.py
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@
 ]
 
 all_directives = '(' + '|'.join(directives) + ')'
-seems_directive_re = re.compile(r'\.\. %s([^a-z:]|:(?!:))' % all_directives)
+seems_directive_re = re.compile(r'(?<!\.)\.\. %s([^a-z:]|:(?!:))' % all_directives)
 default_role_re = re.compile(r'(^| )`\w([^`]*?\w)?`($| )')
 leaked_markup_re = re.compile(r'[a-z]::\s|`|\.\.\s*\w+:')
 
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@
     """Check for suspicious reST constructs."""
     inprod = False
     for lno, line in enumerate(lines):
-        if seems_directive_re.match(line):
+        if seems_directive_re.search(line):
             yield lno+1, 'comment seems to be intended as a directive'
         if '.. productionlist::' in line:
             inprod = True