diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index e81804fc29..7daf3697c7 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ all: zenith postgres
 ### Zenith Rust bits
 #
 # The 'postgres_ffi' depends on the Postgres headers.
+.PHONY: zenith
 zenith: postgres-headers
 	cargo build
 
@@ -37,15 +38,18 @@ tmp_install/build/config.status:
 		--prefix=$(abspath tmp_install) > configure.log)
 
 # nicer alias for running 'configure'
+.PHONY: postgres-configure
 postgres-configure: tmp_install/build/config.status
 
 # Install the PostgreSQL header files into tmp_install/include
+.PHONY: postgres-headers
 postgres-headers: postgres-configure
 	+@echo "Installing PostgreSQL headers"
 	$(MAKE) -C tmp_install/build/src/include MAKELEVEL=0 install
 
 
 # Compile and install PostgreSQL and contrib/zenith
+.PHONY: postgres
 postgres: postgres-configure
 	+@echo "Compiling PostgreSQL"
 	$(MAKE) -C tmp_install/build MAKELEVEL=0 install
@@ -67,14 +71,10 @@ distclean:
 	rm -rf tmp_install
 	cargo clean
 
+.PHONY: fmt
 fmt:
-	@files=$$(git diff --cached --name-only --diff-filter=ACM | grep ".rs"); \
-	if [ "$$files" ]; then \
-		rustfmt $$files --edition=2018; \
-	fi;
-
+	./pre-commit.py --fix-inplace
 
+.PHONY: setup-pre-commit-hook
 setup-pre-commit-hook:
-	ln -s -f ../../pre-commit.sh.tpl .git/hooks/pre-commit
-
-.PHONY: postgres-configure postgres postgres-headers zenith
+	ln -s -f ../../pre-commit.py .git/hooks/pre-commit
diff --git a/pre-commit.py b/pre-commit.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..5a4e0def5c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pre-commit.py
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+
+from typing import List
+import subprocess
+import sys
+
+RED = "\033[0;31m"
+GREEN = "\033[0;33m"
+CYAN = "\033[0;36m"
+NC = "\033[0m"  # No Color
+
+
+def fix_inplace() -> bool:
+    if len(sys.argv) == 2 and sys.argv[1] == "--fix-inplace":
+        return True
+    return False
+
+
+def get_commit_files() -> List[str]:
+    files = subprocess.check_output(
+        "git diff --cached --name-only --diff-filter=ACM".split()
+    )
+    return files.decode().splitlines()
+
+
+def check(name: str, suffix: str, cmd: str, changed_files: List[str]):
+    print(f"Checking: {name} ", end="")
+    applicable_files = list(
+        filter(lambda fname: fname.strip().endswith(suffix), changed_files)
+    )
+    if not applicable_files:
+        print(f"{CYAN}[NOT APPLICABLE]{NC}")
+        return
+
+    cmd = f'{cmd} {" ".join(applicable_files)}'
+    res = subprocess.run(cmd.split(), capture_output=True)
+    if res.returncode != 0:
+        print(f"{RED}[FAILED]{NC}")
+        print("Please inspect the output below and run make fmt to fix automatically\n")
+        print(res.stdout.decode())
+        exit(1)
+    print(f"{GREEN}[OK]{NC}")
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    files = get_commit_files()
+    rustfmt = "rustfmt --edition=2018"
+    if not fix_inplace():
+        rustfmt += " --check"
+    check(
+        name="rustfmt",
+        suffix=".rs",
+        cmd=rustfmt,
+        changed_files=files,
+    )
diff --git a/pre-commit.sh.tpl b/pre-commit.sh.tpl
deleted file mode 100755
index ca0e76ab06..0000000000
--- a/pre-commit.sh.tpl
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,34 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-RED='\033[0;31m'
-GREEN='\033[0;33m'
-CYAN='\033[0;36m'
-NC='\033[0m' # No Color
-
-function check {
-    name=$1
-    prefix=$2
-    files=$(git diff --cached --name-only --diff-filter=ACM | grep $prefix)
-    shift; shift;
-    echo -n "checking $name ";
-    if [ -z "$files" ]; then 
-        echo -e "${CYAN}[NOT APPLICABLE]${NC}"
-        exit 0;
-    fi
-
-    cd $(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)
-    
-    out=$($@ $files)
-    if [ $? -eq 0 ];
-    then
-        echo -e "${GREEN}[OK]${NC}"
-        cd -
-    else
-        echo -e "${RED}[FAILED]${NC}"
-        echo -e "Please inspect the output below and run make fmt to fix automatically\n"
-        echo -e "$out"
-        exit 1
-    fi
-}
-
-check rustfmt .rs rustfmt --check --edition=2018