diff --git a/modules/jenkins/files/slave_scripts/project-requirements-change.py b/modules/jenkins/files/slave_scripts/project-requirements-change.py
index 56750f081d..996668cf25 100755
--- a/modules/jenkins/files/slave_scripts/project-requirements-change.py
+++ b/modules/jenkins/files/slave_scripts/project-requirements-change.py
@@ -39,11 +39,12 @@ class RequirementsList(object):
         self.reqs = {}
         self.failed = False
 
-    def read_requirements(self, fn, ignore_dups=False):
+    def read_requirements(self, fn, ignore_dups=False, strict=False):
+        """ Read a requirements file and optionally enforce style."""
         if not os.path.exists(fn):
             return
         for line in open(fn):
-            if '\n' not in line:
+            if strict and '\n' not in line:
                 raise Exception("Requirements file %s does not "
                                 "end with a newline." % fn)
             if '#' in line:
@@ -55,13 +56,15 @@ class RequirementsList(object):
                 line.startswith('-f')):
                 continue
             req = pkg_resources.Requirement.parse(line)
-            if not ignore_dups and req.project_name.lower() in self.reqs:
+            if (not ignore_dups and strict and req.project_name.lower()
+                in self.reqs):
                 print("Duplicate requirement in %s: %s" %
                       (self.name, str(req)))
                 self.failed = True
             self.reqs[req.project_name.lower()] = req
 
-    def read_all_requirements(self, global_req=False, include_dev=False):
+    def read_all_requirements(self, global_req=False, include_dev=False,
+                              strict=False):
         """ Read all the requirements into a list.
 
         Build ourselves a consolidated list of requirements. If global_req is
@@ -71,34 +74,45 @@ class RequirementsList(object):
         If include_dev is true allow for development requirements, which
         may be prereleased versions of libraries that would otherwise be
         listed. This is most often used for olso prereleases.
+
+        If strict is True then style checks should be performed while reading
+        the file.
         """
         if global_req:
-            self.read_requirements('global-requirements.txt')
+            self.read_requirements('global-requirements.txt', strict=strict)
         else:
             for fn in ['tools/pip-requires',
                        'tools/test-requires',
                        'requirements.txt',
                        'test-requirements.txt'
                        ]:
-                self.read_requirements(fn)
+                self.read_requirements(fn, strict=strict)
         if include_dev:
             self.read_requirements('dev-requirements.txt',
-                                   ignore_dups=True)
+                                   ignore_dups=True, strict=strict)
 
 
 def main():
     branch = sys.argv[1]
+
+    # build a list of requirements in the proposed change,
+    # and check them for style violations while doing so
     head = run_command("git rev-parse HEAD").strip()
     head_reqs = RequirementsList('HEAD')
-    head_reqs.read_all_requirements()
+    head_reqs.read_all_requirements(strict=True)
 
+    # build a list of requirements already in the target branch,
+    # so that we can create a diff and identify what's being changed
     run_command("git remote update")
     run_command("git checkout remotes/origin/%s" % branch)
     branch_reqs = RequirementsList(branch)
     branch_reqs.read_all_requirements()
 
+    # switch back to the proposed change now
     run_command("git checkout %s" % head)
 
+    # build a list of requirements from the global list in the
+    # openstack/requirements project so we can match them to the changes
     reqroot = tempfile.mkdtemp()
     reqdir = os.path.join(reqroot, "requirements")
     run_command("git clone https://review.openstack.org/p/openstack/"
@@ -111,6 +125,8 @@ def main():
     os_reqs.read_all_requirements(include_dev=(branch == 'master'),
                                   global_req=True)
 
+    # iterate through the changing entries and see if they match the global
+    # equivalents we want enforced
     failed = False
     for req in head_reqs.reqs.values():
         name = req.project_name.lower()
@@ -128,6 +144,7 @@ def main():
                   "value %s" % (str(req), str(os_reqs.reqs[name])))
             failed = True
 
+    # clean up and report the results
     shutil.rmtree(reqroot)
     if failed or os_reqs.failed or head_reqs.failed or branch_reqs.failed:
         sys.exit(1)