diff --git a/scripts/trailing-whitespace.sh b/scripts/trailing-whitespace.sh
index 6daf7d7..5a9e7d0 100755
--- a/scripts/trailing-whitespace.sh
+++ b/scripts/trailing-whitespace.sh
@@ -4,13 +4,17 @@ function remove-whitespace {
     # exclude file types
     # (ignore generated files/directories)
     exclude_paths=(
-        '*/.git/*'
+        ".git"
     )
     exclude_files=(
         "*.lst"
         "*.map"
         "*.svd"
         "*.sym"
+        "*.doc"
+        "*.docx"
+        "*.ppt"
+        "*.pptx"
     )
 
     unset help
@@ -23,7 +27,7 @@ function remove-whitespace {
     unset args
     unset arguments
 
-    for arg in $@; do
+    for arg in "$@"; do
         if [[ "${arg}" =~ ^-[a-zA-Z]{2,}$ ]]; then
             temp=($(echo ${arg} | grep --color=never -o "."))
             args+=(${temp[@]/#/-})
@@ -32,14 +36,14 @@ function remove-whitespace {
         fi
     done
 
-    for arg in ${args[@]}; do
+    for arg in "${args[@]}"; do
         [[ "${arg}" != "--" ]] && arguments+=("${arg}")
     done
     unset args
 
-    for arg in ${arguments[@]}; do
+    for arg in "${arguments[@]}"; do
         unset arg_found
-        case ${arg} in
+        case "${arg}" in
         "-u" | "--unix")
             arg_found="true"
             ffunix="true"
@@ -82,26 +86,42 @@ function remove-whitespace {
         grep_regex=$'[[:blank:]]+\r?$'
     fi
 
-    for arg in ${path_args[@]}; do
-        files+=($(
+    # compile exclude arguments
+    unset excludes
+    excludes=("(")
+
+    for n in ${!exclude_paths[@]}; do
+        excludes+=("-name" "${exclude_paths[$n]}")
+        if ((${n} < ${#exclude_paths[@]} - 1)); then
+            excludes+=("-o")
+        fi
+    done
+
+    excludes+=(")" "-type d" "-prune" "-o")
+
+    for arg in "${exclude_files[@]}"; do
+        excludes+=("-not" "-name" "${arg}")
+    done
+
+    for arg in "${path_args[@]}"; do
+        files=("$(
             find "${arg}" \
-                ${exclude_paths[@]/#/-not -path } \
-                ${exclude_files[@]/#/-not -name } \
+                ${excludes[@]} \
                 -type f \
                 -exec grep -EIq "${grep_regex}" {} \; \
                 -print
-        ))
-    done
-    for arg in ${file_args[@]}; do
-        grep -EIq "${grep_regex}" ${arg} && files+=("${arg}")
+        )")
     done
 
-    if [[ -z "${files[@]}" ]] && [[ -n "${path_args}" ]]; then
-        echo "no files with trailing whitespace or dos style line endings found"
-        return 0
-    fi
+    IFS=$'\n'
+    files=(${files})
+    unset IFS
 
-    if [[ -n "${help}" ]] || [[ -z "${files[@]}" ]]; then
+    for arg in "${file_args[@]}"; do
+        grep -EIq "${grep_regex}" "${arg}" && files+=("${arg}")
+    done
+
+    if [[ -n "${help}" ]] || [[ -z "${file_args[@]} ${path_args[@]}" ]]; then
         cat <<EOF
 Usage: remove-whitespace [-h] [-n] path [path]
 
@@ -123,12 +143,17 @@ EOF
         return 0
     fi
 
+    if [[ -z "${files[@]}" ]]; then
+        echo "no files with trailing whitespace or dos style line endings found"
+        return 0
+    fi
+
     if [[ -z "${no_action}" ]]; then
-        for file in ${files[@]}; do
+        for file in "${files[@]}"; do
             if [[ -n "${ffunix}" ]]; then
-                sed -i "${sed_cmd}" ${file}
+                sed -i "${sed_cmd}" "${file}"
             else
-                sed -i "${sed_cmd}" ${file}
+                sed -i "${sed_cmd}" "${file}"
             fi
         done
     fi
@@ -139,7 +164,7 @@ EOF
         tput smso
         echo "The following files contain whitespace:"
         tput sgr0
-        for file in ${files[@]}; do
+        for file in "${files[@]}"; do
             echo "${file}"
         done
     elif [[ -z "${silent}" ]] &&
@@ -148,7 +173,7 @@ EOF
         tput smso
         echo "The following files contained whitespace:"
         tput sgr0
-        for file in ${files[@]}; do
+        for file in "${files[@]}"; do
             echo "${file}"
         done
     fi