diff --git a/.eslintrc.yml b/.eslintrc.yml
index 587169c533..8c46adcc68 100644
--- a/.eslintrc.yml
+++ b/.eslintrc.yml
@@ -4,5 +4,7 @@ rules:
   eol-last: error
   eqeqeq: [error, allow-null]
   indent: [error, 2, { MemberExpression: "off", SwitchCase: 1 }]
+  no-cond-assign: error
   no-trailing-spaces: error
   no-unused-vars: [error, { vars: all, args: none, ignoreRestSiblings: true }]
+  yoda: error
diff --git a/examples/params/index.js b/examples/params/index.js
index f3cd8457eb..11eef51a59 100644
--- a/examples/params/index.js
+++ b/examples/params/index.js
@@ -32,7 +32,8 @@ app.param(['to', 'from'], function(req, res, next, num, name){
 // Load user by id
 
 app.param('user', function(req, res, next, id){
-  if (req.user = users[id]) {
+  req.user = users[id]
+  if (req.user) {
     next();
   } else {
     next(createError(404, 'failed to find user'));
diff --git a/lib/request.js b/lib/request.js
index 3f1eeca6c1..8a3bac4667 100644
--- a/lib/request.js
+++ b/lib/request.js
@@ -242,9 +242,9 @@ req.param = function param(name, defaultValue) {
     : 'name, default';
   deprecate('req.param(' + args + '): Use req.params, req.body, or req.query instead');
 
-  if (null != params[name] && params.hasOwnProperty(name)) return params[name];
-  if (null != body[name]) return body[name];
-  if (null != query[name]) return query[name];
+  if (params[name] != null && params.hasOwnProperty(name)) return params[name];
+  if (body[name] != null) return body[name];
+  if (query[name] != null) return query[name];
 
   return defaultValue;
 };
@@ -470,10 +470,10 @@ defineGetter(req, 'fresh', function(){
   var status = res.statusCode
 
   // GET or HEAD for weak freshness validation only
-  if ('GET' !== method && 'HEAD' !== method) return false;
+  if (method !== 'GET' && method !== 'HEAD') return false;
 
   // 2xx or 304 as per rfc2616 14.26
-  if ((status >= 200 && status < 300) || 304 === status) {
+  if ((status >= 200 && status < 300) || status === 304) {
     return fresh(this.headers, {
       'etag': res.get('ETag'),
       'last-modified': res.get('Last-Modified')
diff --git a/lib/response.js b/lib/response.js
index fede486c06..01131e0ffe 100644
--- a/lib/response.js
+++ b/lib/response.js
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ res.send = function send(body) {
   if (req.fresh) this.statusCode = 304;
 
   // strip irrelevant headers
-  if (204 === this.statusCode || 304 === this.statusCode) {
+  if (this.statusCode === 204 || this.statusCode === 304) {
     this.removeHeader('Content-Type');
     this.removeHeader('Content-Length');
     this.removeHeader('Transfer-Encoding');
diff --git a/lib/router/index.js b/lib/router/index.js
index abb3a6f589..eb1aa17f8e 100644
--- a/lib/router/index.js
+++ b/lib/router/index.js
@@ -113,14 +113,15 @@ proto.param = function param(name, fn) {
   }
 
   for (var i = 0; i < len; ++i) {
-    if (ret = params[i](name, fn)) {
+    ret = params[i](name, fn)
+    if (ret) {
       fn = ret;
     }
   }
 
   // ensure we end up with a
   // middleware function
-  if ('function' !== typeof fn) {
+  if (typeof fn !== 'function') {
     throw new Error('invalid param() call for ' + name + ', got ' + fn);
   }
 
diff --git a/lib/utils.js b/lib/utils.js
index 56e12b9b54..6660a3a845 100644
--- a/lib/utils.js
+++ b/lib/utils.js
@@ -54,9 +54,9 @@ exports.wetag = createETagGenerator({ weak: true })
  */
 
 exports.isAbsolute = function(path){
-  if ('/' === path[0]) return true;
-  if (':' === path[1] && ('\\' === path[2] || '/' === path[2])) return true; // Windows device path
-  if ('\\\\' === path.substring(0, 2)) return true; // Microsoft Azure absolute path
+  if (path[0] === '/') return true;
+  if (path[1] === ':' && (path[2] === '\\' || path[2] === '/')) return true; // Windows device path
+  if (path.substring(0, 2) === '\\\\') return true; // Microsoft Azure absolute path
 };
 
 /**
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ function acceptParams (str) {
 
   for (var i = 1; i < parts.length; ++i) {
     var pms = parts[i].split(/ *= */);
-    if ('q' === pms[0]) {
+    if (pms[0] === 'q') {
       ret.quality = parseFloat(pms[1]);
     } else {
       ret.params[pms[0]] = pms[1];
diff --git a/test/app.param.js b/test/app.param.js
index b4ccc8a2d1..76a6d7cc02 100644
--- a/test/app.param.js
+++ b/test/app.param.js
@@ -12,8 +12,8 @@ describe('app', function(){
       app.param(function(name, regexp){
         if (Object.prototype.toString.call(regexp) === '[object RegExp]') { // See #1557
           return function(req, res, next, val){
-            var captures;
-            if (captures = regexp.exec(String(val))) {
+            var captures = regexp.exec(String(val));
+            if (captures) {
               req.params[name] = captures[1];
               next();
             } else {