diff --git a/hack/make/.validate b/hack/make/.validate
index 09439fd2..3c59d16d 100644
--- a/hack/make/.validate
+++ b/hack/make/.validate
@@ -21,9 +21,7 @@ if [ -z "$VALIDATE_UPSTREAM" ]; then
 	VALIDATE_COMMIT_DIFF="$VALIDATE_UPSTREAM...$VALIDATE_HEAD"
 	
 	validate_diff() {
-		if [ "$VALIDATE_UPSTREAM" != "$VALIDATE_HEAD" ]; then
-			git diff "$VALIDATE_COMMIT_DIFF" "$@"
-		fi
+		git diff "$VALIDATE_UPSTREAM" "$@"
 	}
 	validate_log() {
 		if [ "$VALIDATE_UPSTREAM" != "$VALIDATE_HEAD" ]; then
diff --git a/hack/make/validate-gofmt b/hack/make/validate-gofmt
index 8fc88cc5..0f973f92 100755
--- a/hack/make/validate-gofmt
+++ b/hack/make/validate-gofmt
@@ -8,8 +8,7 @@ unset IFS
 
 badFiles=()
 for f in "${files[@]}"; do
-	# we use "git show" here to validate that what's committed is formatted
-	if [ "$(git show "$VALIDATE_HEAD:$f" | gofmt -s -l)" ]; then
+	if [ "$(gofmt -s -l < $f)" ]; then
 		badFiles+=( "$f" )
 	fi
 done
diff --git a/hack/make/validate-lint b/hack/make/validate-lint
index f8cb9c9f..3674d723 100755
--- a/hack/make/validate-lint
+++ b/hack/make/validate-lint
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ unset IFS
 
 errors=()
 for f in "${files[@]}"; do
-	# we use "git show" here to validate that what's committed passes go lint
 	failedLint=$(golint "$f")
 	if [ "$failedLint" ]; then
 		errors+=( "$failedLint" )
diff --git a/hack/make/validate-vet b/hack/make/validate-vet
index e88f7549..39f4a2c1 100755
--- a/hack/make/validate-vet
+++ b/hack/make/validate-vet
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ unset IFS
 
 errors=()
 for f in "${files[@]}"; do
-	# we use "git show" here to validate that what's committed passes go vet
 	failedVet=$(go vet "$f")
 	if [ "$failedVet" ]; then
 		errors+=( "$failedVet" )