diff --git a/misc/scripts/checks.sh b/misc/scripts/checks.sh
index 04d1ebdb6..620a8629c 100755
--- a/misc/scripts/checks.sh
+++ b/misc/scripts/checks.sh
@@ -210,45 +210,32 @@ function lint_maintainer() {
     return 0
 }
 
-function lint_makedepends() {
-    local ret=0 makedepend idx=0
-    if [[ -n ${makedepends[*]} ]]; then
-        for makedepend in "${makedepends[@]}"; do
-            if [[ -z ${makedepend} ]]; then
-                fancy_message error "'makedepends' index '${idx}' cannot be empty"
-                ret=1
-            fi
-            ((idx++))
-        done
-    fi
-    return "${ret}"
-}
-
-function lint_depends() {
-    local ret=0 depend idx=0
-    if [[ -n ${depends[*]} ]]; then
-        for depend in "${depends[@]}"; do
-            if [[ -z ${depend} ]]; then
-                fancy_message error "'depends' index '${idx}' cannot be empty"
-                ret=1
-            fi
-            ((idx++))
-        done
-    fi
-    return "${ret}"
+function lint_pipe_check() {
+    perl -ne 'exit 1 unless /^(?:[^\s|:]+(?::[^\s|:]+)?\s\|\s)+[^\s|:]+(?::[^\s|:]+)?(?::\s[^|:]+)?(?<!\s)$/' <<< "$1"
+    return $?
 }
 
-function lint_pacdeps() {
-    local ret=0 pacdep idx=0
-    if [[ -n ${pacdeps[*]} ]]; then
-        for pacdep in "${pacdeps[@]}"; do
-            if [[ -z ${pacdep} ]]; then
-                fancy_message error "'pacdeps' index '${idx}' cannot be empty"
-                ret=1
-            fi
-            ((idx++))
-        done
-    fi
+function lint_deps() {
+    local dep_type dep_array ret=0 dep idx
+    for dep_type in "depends" "makedepends" "pacdeps"; do
+        idx=0
+        local -n dep_array="${dep_type}"
+        if [[ -n ${dep_array[*]} ]]; then
+            for dep in "${dep_array[@]}"; do
+                if [[ -z ${dep} ]]; then
+                    fancy_message error "'${dep_type}' index '${idx}' cannot be empty"
+                    ret=1
+                elif [[ ${dep} == *"|"* ]] && [[ ${dep_type} == "pacdeps" ]] || ! lint_pipe_check "${dep}"; then
+                    fancy_message error "'${dep_type}' index '${idx}' is not formatted correctly"
+                    ret=1
+                fi
+                ((idx++))
+            done
+        fi
+        if ((ret == 1)); then
+            break
+        fi
+    done
     return "${ret}"
 }
 
@@ -292,7 +279,7 @@ function lint_optdepends() {
             if [[ -z ${optdepend} ]]; then
                 fancy_message error "'optdepends' index '${idx}' cannot be empty"
                 ret=1
-            elif [[ $optdepend != *": "* ]]; then
+            elif [[ $optdepend != *": "* ]] || [[ ${dep} == *"|"* ]] && ! lint_pipe_check "${dep}"; then
                 fancy_message error "'optdepends' index '${idx}' is not formatted correctly"
                 ret=1
             fi
@@ -554,7 +541,7 @@ function lint_priority() {
 }
 
 function checks() {
-    local ret=0 check linting_checks=(lint_pkgname lint_gives lint_pkgrel lint_epoch lint_version lint_source lint_pkgdesc lint_maintainer lint_makedepends lint_depends lint_pacdeps lint_ppa lint_optdepends lint_conflicts lint_breaks lint_replaces lint_hash lint_patch lint_provides lint_incompatible lint_arch lint_mask lint_priority)
+    local ret=0 check linting_checks=(lint_pkgname lint_gives lint_pkgrel lint_epoch lint_version lint_source lint_pkgdesc lint_maintainer lint_deps lint_ppa lint_optdepends lint_conflicts lint_breaks lint_replaces lint_hash lint_patch lint_provides lint_incompatible lint_arch lint_mask lint_priority)
     for check in "${linting_checks[@]}"; do
         "${check}" || ret=1
     done