diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
index e0b9938c3..032a75e77 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
-on: [push, pull_request]
+on:
+  push:
+    branches: [master]
+  pull_request:  
 
 name: CI
 
diff --git a/tests/snippets/bytearray.py b/tests/snippets/bytearray.py
index 889c34056..02331a598 100644
--- a/tests/snippets/bytearray.py
+++ b/tests/snippets/bytearray.py
@@ -352,11 +352,11 @@ assert bytearray(b"hjhtuyfjtyhuhjuyj").translate(None, delete=b"ht") == bytearra
 
 
 # strip lstrip rstrip
-assert bytearray(b"   spacious   ").strip() == bytearray(b"spacious")
+assert bytearray(b" \n  spacious \n  ").strip() == bytearray(b"spacious")
 assert bytearray(b"www.example.com").strip(b"cmowz.") == bytearray(b"example")
-assert bytearray(b"   spacious   ").lstrip() == bytearray(b"spacious   ")
+assert bytearray(b" \n  spacious   ").lstrip() == bytearray(b"spacious   ")
 assert bytearray(b"www.example.com").lstrip(b"cmowz.") == bytearray(b"example.com")
-assert bytearray(b"   spacious   ").rstrip() == bytearray(b"   spacious")
+assert bytearray(b"   spacious \n  ").rstrip() == bytearray(b"   spacious")
 assert bytearray(b"mississippi").rstrip(b"ipz") == bytearray(b"mississ")
 
 
diff --git a/tests/snippets/bytes.py b/tests/snippets/bytes.py
index 59fdb40b7..1f54c0454 100644
--- a/tests/snippets/bytes.py
+++ b/tests/snippets/bytes.py
@@ -341,11 +341,11 @@ assert b"hjhtuyfjtyhuhjuyj".translate(None, delete=b"ht") == b"juyfjyujuyj"
 
 
 # strip lstrip rstrip
-assert b"   spacious   ".strip() == b"spacious"
+assert b" \n  spacious \n  ".strip() == b"spacious"
 assert b"www.example.com".strip(b"cmowz.") == b"example"
-assert b"   spacious   ".lstrip() == b"spacious   "
+assert b" \n  spacious   ".lstrip() == b"spacious   "
 assert b"www.example.com".lstrip(b"cmowz.") == b"example.com"
-assert b"   spacious   ".rstrip() == b"   spacious"
+assert b"   spacious \n  ".rstrip() == b"   spacious"
 assert b"mississippi".rstrip(b"ipz") == b"mississ"
 
 
diff --git a/tests/snippets/stdlib_subprocess.py b/tests/snippets/stdlib_subprocess.py
index 7e9adaf7f..72bcb7b5e 100644
--- a/tests/snippets/stdlib_subprocess.py
+++ b/tests/snippets/stdlib_subprocess.py
@@ -30,14 +30,7 @@ p.wait()
 
 is_unix = "win" not in sys.platform or "darwin" in sys.platform
 
-if is_unix:
-	# unix
-	test_output = b"test\n"
-else:
-	# windows
-	test_output = b"test\r\n"
-
-assert p.stdout.read() == test_output
+assert p.stdout.read().strip() == b"test"
 
 p = subprocess.Popen(["sleep", "2"])
 p.terminate()
@@ -57,4 +50,4 @@ else:
 
 p = subprocess.Popen(["echo", "test"], stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
 (stdout, stderr) = p.communicate()
-assert stdout == test_output
+assert stdout.strip() == b"test"
diff --git a/tests/test_snippets.py b/tests/test_snippets.py
index 6e5b4a915..8cc6f49c6 100644
--- a/tests/test_snippets.py
+++ b/tests/test_snippets.py
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ def run_via_cpython(filename):
     env = os.environ.copy()
     subprocess.check_call([sys.executable, filename], env=env)
 
+RUST_TARGET = "debug" if os.environ.get("CODE_COVERAGE", "false") == "true" else "release"
 
 def run_via_rustpython(filename, test_type):
     env = os.environ.copy()
@@ -56,10 +57,7 @@ def run_via_rustpython(filename, test_type):
     env['RUST_BACKTRACE'] = '1'
     env['PYTHONPATH'] = RUSTPYTHON_LIB_DIR
 
-    target = "release"
-    if env.get("CODE_COVERAGE", "false") == "true":
-        target = "debug"
-    binary = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(ROOT_DIR, "target", target, "rustpython"))
+    binary = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(ROOT_DIR, "target", RUST_TARGET, "rustpython"))
 
     subprocess.check_call([binary, filename], env=env)
 
@@ -136,8 +134,7 @@ class SampleTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
         generate_slices(cls.slices_resource_path)
 
         # cargo stuff
-        subprocess.check_call(["cargo", "build"])
-        subprocess.check_call(["cargo", "build", "--release"])
+        subprocess.check_call(["cargo", "build", "--{}".format(RUST_TARGET)])
 
     @classmethod
     def tearDownClass(cls):
diff --git a/vm/src/obj/objbyteinner.rs b/vm/src/obj/objbyteinner.rs
index 149d912c5..37c061661 100644
--- a/vm/src/obj/objbyteinner.rs
+++ b/vm/src/obj/objbyteinner.rs
@@ -952,28 +952,30 @@ impl PyByteInner {
         chars: OptionalArg<PyByteInner>,
         position: ByteInnerPosition,
     ) -> PyResult<Vec<u8>> {
-        let chars = if let OptionalArg::Present(bytes) = chars {
-            bytes.elements
-        } else {
-            vec![b' ']
+        let is_valid_char = |c| {
+            if let OptionalArg::Present(ref bytes) = chars {
+                bytes.elements.contains(c)
+            } else {
+                c.is_ascii_whitespace()
+            }
         };
 
         let mut start = 0;
         let mut end = self.len();
 
         if let ByteInnerPosition::Left | ByteInnerPosition::All = position {
-            for (n, i) in self.elements.iter().enumerate() {
-                if !chars.contains(i) {
-                    start = n;
+            for (i, c) in self.elements.iter().enumerate() {
+                if !is_valid_char(c) {
+                    start = i;
                     break;
                 }
             }
         }
 
         if let ByteInnerPosition::Right | ByteInnerPosition::All = position {
-            for (n, i) in self.elements.iter().rev().enumerate() {
-                if !chars.contains(i) {
-                    end = self.len() - n;
+            for (i, c) in self.elements.iter().rev().enumerate() {
+                if !is_valid_char(c) {
+                    end = self.len() - i;
                     break;
                 }
             }