diff --git a/lib/pacemaker/pcmk_verify.c b/lib/pacemaker/pcmk_verify.c
index 70afd8fc29..f4a6409198 100644
--- a/lib/pacemaker/pcmk_verify.c
+++ b/lib/pacemaker/pcmk_verify.c
@@ -1,161 +1,151 @@
 /*
  * Copyright 2023-2024 the Pacemaker project contributors
  *
  * The version control history for this file may have further details.
  *
  * This source code is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License
  * version 2.1 or later (LGPLv2.1+) WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY.
  */
 
 #include <crm_internal.h>
 #include <crm/cib/internal.h>
 #include <crm/common/output.h>
 #include <crm/common/results.h>
 #include <crm/common/scheduler.h>
 #include <pacemaker-internal.h>
 #include <pacemaker.h>
 
 #include <stdint.h>
 #include <sys/types.h>
 #include <sys/stat.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 
 #include "libpacemaker_private.h"
 
 int
 pcmk__parse_cib(pcmk__output_t *out, const char *cib_source, xmlNodePtr *cib_object)
 {
-    int rc = pcmk_rc_ok;
+    // @COMPAT Take an enum for cib_source instead of trying to figure it out?
+    const char *first = cib_source;
 
     if (cib_source == NULL) {
         crm_info("Reading XML from: live cluster");
-        rc = cib__signon_query(out, NULL, cib_object);
+        return cib__signon_query(out, NULL, cib_object);
+    }
 
-    } else if (cib_source[0] == '<') {
-        // @TODO More robust check -- what if there's leading whitespace?
-        *cib_object = string2xml(cib_source);
-        if (*cib_object == NULL) {
-            rc = ENODATA;
-        }
+    while (isspace(*first)) {
+        first++;
+    }
 
+    if (*first == '<') {
+        *cib_object = string2xml(cib_source);
     } else {
         *cib_object = pcmk__xml_read(cib_source);
-        if (*cib_object == NULL) {
-            rc = ENODATA;
-        }
     }
 
-    return rc;
+    return (*cib_object == NULL)? ENODATA : pcmk_rc_ok;
 }
 
 int
 pcmk__verify(pcmk_scheduler_t *scheduler, pcmk__output_t *out, xmlNode *cib_object)
 {
     int rc = pcmk_rc_ok;
     xmlNode *status = NULL;
     xmlNode *cib_object_copy = NULL;
 
     if (!pcmk__xe_is(cib_object, PCMK_XE_CIB)) {
         rc = EBADMSG;
         out->err(out, "This tool can only check complete configurations (i.e. those starting with <cib>).");
         goto verify_done;
     }
 
     status = pcmk_find_cib_element(cib_object, PCMK_XE_STATUS);
     if (status == NULL) {
         create_xml_node(cib_object, PCMK_XE_STATUS);
     }
 
     if (pcmk__validate_xml(cib_object, NULL, (xmlRelaxNGValidityErrorFunc) out->err, out) == FALSE) {
         crm_config_error = TRUE;
         rc = pcmk_rc_schema_validation;
         goto verify_done;
 
     } else if (cli_config_update(&cib_object, NULL, FALSE) == FALSE) {
         crm_config_error = TRUE;
         out->err(out, "The cluster will NOT be able to use this configuration.\n"
                  "Please manually update the configuration to conform to the %s syntax.",
                  xml_latest_schema());
         rc = pcmk_rc_schema_validation;
         goto verify_done;
     }
 
     /* Process the configuration to set crm_config_error/crm_config_warning.
      *
      * @TODO Some parts of the configuration are unpacked only when needed (for
      * example, action configuration), so we aren't necessarily checking those.
      */
     if (cib_object != NULL) {
         unsigned long long flags = pcmk_sched_no_counts|pcmk_sched_no_compat;
 
         if (status == NULL) {
             // No status available, so do minimal checks
             flags |= pcmk_sched_validate_only;
         }
         cib_object_copy = pcmk__xml_copy(NULL, cib_object);
 
         /* The scheduler takes ownership of the XML object and potentially
          * frees it later. We want the caller of pcmk__verify to retain
          * ownership of the passed-in XML object, hence we pass in a copy
          * to the scheduler.
          */ 
         pcmk__schedule_actions(cib_object_copy, flags, scheduler);
     }
 
 verify_done:
     if (crm_config_error) {
         rc = pcmk_rc_schema_validation;
         pcmk__config_err("CIB did not pass schema validation");
     } else if (crm_config_warning) {
         rc = pcmk_rc_schema_validation;
     }
     return rc;
 }
 
 int
 pcmk_verify(xmlNodePtr *xml, const char *cib_source)
 {
     pcmk_scheduler_t *scheduler = NULL;
     pcmk__output_t *out = NULL;
     int rc = pcmk_rc_ok;
 
     xmlNode *cib_object = NULL;
 
     rc = pcmk__xml_output_new(&out, xml);
     if (rc != pcmk_rc_ok) {
         return rc;
     }
 
     pe__register_messages(out);
     pcmk__register_lib_messages(out);
 
     rc = pcmk__parse_cib(out, cib_source, &cib_object);
-    
     if (rc != pcmk_rc_ok) {
         out->err(out, "Couldn't parse input");
         goto done;
     }
 
     scheduler = pe_new_working_set();
-
     if (scheduler == NULL) {
         rc = errno;
-        out->err(out, "Could not allocate scheduler data: %s", pcmk_rc_str(rc));
+        out->err(out, "Couldn't allocate scheduler data: %s", pcmk_rc_str(rc));
         goto done;
     }
-    
-    scheduler->priv = out;
 
+    scheduler->priv = out;
     rc = pcmk__verify(scheduler, out, cib_object);
-    
-    pe_free_working_set(scheduler);
 
 done:
+    pe_free_working_set(scheduler);
     pcmk__xml_output_finish(out, pcmk_rc2exitc(rc), xml);
-
-    if (cib_object != NULL) {
-        free_xml(cib_object);      
-    }
-
+    free_xml(cib_object);
     return rc;
 }