diff --git a/scripts/acarsd-info.nse b/scripts/acarsd-info.nse
index 0e39a93d8..a1493aa5f 100644
--- a/scripts/acarsd-info.nse
+++ b/scripts/acarsd-info.nse
@@ -56,8 +56,7 @@ action = function(host, port)
   if not timeout or timeout < 0 then timeout = 10 end
 
   -- Set bytes
-  local bytes = tonumber(nmap.registry.args[SCRIPT_NAME .. '.bytes'])
-  if not bytes then bytes = 512 else tonumber(bytes) end
+  local bytes = tonumber(nmap.registry.args[SCRIPT_NAME .. '.bytes']) or 512
 
   -- Connect and retrieve acarsd info in XML format over TCP
   stdnse.debug1("Connecting to %s:%s [Timeout: %ss]", host.targetname or host.ip, port.number, timeout)
diff --git a/scripts/dns-brute.nse b/scripts/dns-brute.nse
index 4426c0970..06d8b2372 100644
--- a/scripts/dns-brute.nse
+++ b/scripts/dns-brute.nse
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ action = function(host)
 
   nmap.registry.bruteddomains[domainname] = true
   stdnse.debug1("Starting dns-brute at: "..domainname)
-  local max_threads = stdnse.get_script_args('dns-brute.threads') and tonumber( stdnse.get_script_args('dns-brute.threads') ) or 5
+  local max_threads = tonumber( stdnse.get_script_args('dns-brute.threads') ) or 5
   local dosrv = stdnse.get_script_args("dns-brute.srv") or false
   stdnse.debug1("THREADS: "..max_threads)
   -- First look for dns-brute.hostlist
diff --git a/scripts/drda-brute.nse b/scripts/drda-brute.nse
index db72ebc75..e4272f95f 100644
--- a/scripts/drda-brute.nse
+++ b/scripts/drda-brute.nse
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ action = function( host, port )
   local usernames, passwords, creds
   local database = stdnse.get_script_args('drda-brute.dbname') or "SAMPLE"
   local condvar = nmap.condvar( valid_accounts )
-  local max_threads = stdnse.get_script_args('drda-brute.threads') and tonumber( stdnse.get_script_args('drda-brute.threads') ) or 10
+  local max_threads = tonumber( stdnse.get_script_args('drda-brute.threads') ) or 10
 
   -- Check if the DB specified is valid
   if( not(isValidDb(host, port, database)) ) then
diff --git a/scripts/http-domino-enum-passwords.nse b/scripts/http-domino-enum-passwords.nse
index b3f38fe7a..da6e2fa24 100644
--- a/scripts/http-domino-enum-passwords.nse
+++ b/scripts/http-domino-enum-passwords.nse
@@ -222,7 +222,7 @@ action = function(host, port)
   local creds, pos, pager
   local links, result, hashes,legacyHashes, id_files = {}, {}, {}, {},{}
   local chunk_size = 30
-  local max_fetch = stdnse.get_script_args('domino-enum-passwords.count') and tonumber(stdnse.get_script_args('domino-enum-passwords.count')) or 10
+  local max_fetch = tonumber(stdnse.get_script_args('domino-enum-passwords.count')) or 10
   local http_response
 
   if ( nmap.registry['credentials'] and nmap.registry['credentials']['http'] ) then
diff --git a/scripts/irc-sasl-brute.nse b/scripts/irc-sasl-brute.nse
index c9d3a4733..b1579c653 100644
--- a/scripts/irc-sasl-brute.nse
+++ b/scripts/irc-sasl-brute.nse
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ action = function(host, port)
   -- irc servers seem to be restrictive about too many connection attempts
   -- in a short time thus we need to limit the number of threads
   local threads = stdnse.get_script_args(("%s.threads"):format(SCRIPT_NAME))
-  threads = tonumber(threads) and tonumber(threads) or 2
+  threads = tonumber(threads) or 2
   engine:setMaxThreads(threads)
   local status, accounts = engine:start()
   return accounts
diff --git a/scripts/ldap-search.nse b/scripts/ldap-search.nse
index 65017045b..717aa087b 100644
--- a/scripts/ldap-search.nse
+++ b/scripts/ldap-search.nse
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ function action(host,port)
   local saveFile = stdnse.get_script_args('ldap.savesearch')
   local accounts
   local objCount = 0
-  local maxObjects = stdnse.get_script_args('ldap.maxobjects') and tonumber(stdnse.get_script_args('ldap.maxobjects')) or 20
+  local maxObjects = tonumber(stdnse.get_script_args('ldap.maxobjects')) or 20
 
   -- In order to discover what protocol to use (SSL/TCP) we need to send a few bytes to the server
   -- An anonymous bind should do it
diff --git a/scripts/ms-sql-hasdbaccess.nse b/scripts/ms-sql-hasdbaccess.nse
index 9da6d1c6c..f4f7aeb8b 100644
--- a/scripts/ms-sql-hasdbaccess.nse
+++ b/scripts/ms-sql-hasdbaccess.nse
@@ -87,8 +87,7 @@ local function process_instance( instance )
   local output = {}
   local exclude_dbs = { "'master'", "'tempdb'", "'model'", "'msdb'" }
 
-  local RS_LIMIT = stdnse.get_script_args( {'mssql-hasdbaccess.limit', 'ms-sql-hasdbaccess.limit' } )
-    and tonumber(stdnse.get_script_args( {'mssql-hasdbaccess.limit', 'ms-sql-hasdbaccess.limit' } )) or 5
+  local RS_LIMIT = tonumber(stdnse.get_script_args( {'mssql-hasdbaccess.limit', 'ms-sql-hasdbaccess.limit' } )) or 5
 
   if ( RS_LIMIT <= 0 ) then
     limit = ""
diff --git a/scripts/ms-sql-tables.nse b/scripts/ms-sql-tables.nse
index f48645d33..be2e26482 100644
--- a/scripts/ms-sql-tables.nse
+++ b/scripts/ms-sql-tables.nse
@@ -112,10 +112,8 @@ local function process_instance( instance )
   local done_dbs = {}
   local db_limit, tbl_limit
 
-  local DB_COUNT = stdnse.get_script_args( {'ms-sql-tables.maxdb', 'mssql-tables.maxdb'} )
-    and tonumber( stdnse.get_script_args( {'ms-sql-tables.maxdb', 'mssql-tables.maxdb'} ) ) or 5
-  local TABLE_COUNT = stdnse.get_script_args( {'ms-sql-tables.maxtables', 'mssql-tables.maxtables' } )
-    and tonumber( stdnse.get_script_args( {'ms-sql-tables.maxtables', 'mssql-tables.maxtables' } ) ) or 2
+  local DB_COUNT = tonumber( stdnse.get_script_args( {'ms-sql-tables.maxdb', 'mssql-tables.maxdb'} ) ) or 5
+  local TABLE_COUNT = tonumber( stdnse.get_script_args( {'ms-sql-tables.maxtables', 'mssql-tables.maxtables' } ) ) or 2
   local keywords_filter = ""
 
   if ( DB_COUNT <= 0 ) then
@@ -129,9 +127,10 @@ local function process_instance( instance )
     tbl_limit = string.format( "TOP %d", TABLE_COUNT )
   end
 
+  local keywords_arg = stdnse.get_script_args( {'ms-sql-tables.keywords', 'mssql-tables.keywords' } )
   -- Build the keyword filter
-  if ( stdnse.get_script_args( {'ms-sql-tables.keywords', 'mssql-tables.keywords' } ) ) then
-    local keywords = stdnse.get_script_args( {'ms-sql-tables.keywords', 'mssql-tables.keywords' } )
+  if keywords_arg then
+    local keywords = keywords_arg
     local tmp_tbl = {}
 
     if( type(keywords) == 'string' ) then
@@ -207,8 +206,8 @@ local function process_instance( instance )
     local pos = 1
     local restrict_tbl = {}
 
-    if ( stdnse.get_script_args( {'ms-sql-tables.keywords', 'mssql-tables.keywords' } ) ) then
-      local tmp = stdnse.get_script_args( {'ms-sql-tables.keywords', 'mssql-tables.keywords' } )
+    if keywords_arg then
+      local tmp = keywords_arg
       if ( type(tmp) == 'table' ) then
         tmp = stdnse.strjoin(',', tmp)
       end