diff --git a/scripts/checkpatch.pl b/scripts/checkpatch.pl
index 421bbb47844f2285acdef392053ffd403328f312..c061a63afa20155fb9f3dc29582bd60dd3c1e50f 100755
--- a/scripts/checkpatch.pl
+++ b/scripts/checkpatch.pl
@@ -2303,7 +2303,8 @@ sub process {
 		}
 
 # Check for various typo / spelling mistakes
-		if (defined($misspellings) && ($in_commit_log || $line =~ /^\+/)) {
+		if (defined($misspellings) &&
+		    ($in_commit_log || $line =~ /^(?:\+|Subject:)/i)) {
 			while ($rawline =~ /(?:^|[^a-z@])($misspellings)(?:$|[^a-z@])/gi) {
 				my $typo = $1;
 				my $typo_fix = $spelling_fix{lc($typo)};