diff --git a/scripts/git-commit-msg b/scripts/git-commit-msg
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..5adcd80
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/git-commit-msg
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+#############################################################################
+# Copyright (c) 2024 SUSE
+# All Rights Reserved.
+#
+# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+# modify it under the terms of version 2 of the GNU General Public License as
+# published by the Free Software Foundation.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.   See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with this program; if not, contact Novell, Inc.
+#
+# To contact SUSE about this file by physical or electronic mail,
+# you may find current contact information at www.suse.com
+#############################################################################
+
+commit_file="$1"
+
+err=0
+git diff-index --name-status --diff-filter=AM --cached HEAD | (
+while read stat file garbage; do
+    case "$file" in
+    patches.*/*)
+        new_refs=$(git diff-index -p --cached HEAD "$file" | \
+                   awk '/^+References:/ {for (i=2; i <= NF; i++) refs[$i]++}
+                        /^-References:/ {for (i=2; i <= NF; i++) refs[$i]--}
+                        END { for (r in refs) if (refs[r] > 0) print(r)}')
+        for ref in $new_refs ; do
+            grep -q $ref $commit_file || { echo "New reference '$ref' missing in the commit message." ; err=1 ; }
+        done
+        ;;
+    esac
+done
+
+if test "$err" != 0; then
+    echo "Aborting."
+    exit "$err"
+fi ) || exit
diff --git a/scripts/install-git-hooks b/scripts/install-git-hooks
index ed1641a..5ecb9ec 100755
--- a/scripts/install-git-hooks
+++ b/scripts/install-git-hooks
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 cdup=$(git rev-parse --show-cdup) || exit
 cd "${cdup:-./}" || exit
 GIT_DIR=$(git rev-parse --git-dir) || exit
+SCRIPTS_DIR=$(dirname "$(readlink -f "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")")
 
 check_snippet()
 {
@@ -119,27 +120,20 @@ check_scripts()
     is_eq "$GIT_DIR"/hooks/kernel-source-pre-commit scripts/git-pre-commit
 }
 
-# try to create a relative symlink if possible
-relative_scripts_dir()
-{
-    local toplevel=$PWD
-    if test "$toplevel/.git" -ef "$GIT_DIR"; then
-        echo "../../scripts"
-    else
-        echo "$toplevel/scripts"
-    fi
-}
-
 install_scripts()
 {
     chmod +x "$GIT_DIR"/hooks/pre-commit
-    dir=$(relative_scripts_dir)
-    ln -sf "$dir"/git-pre-commit "$GIT_DIR"/hooks/kernel-source-pre-commit
-    if test -r "$GIT_DIR"/hooks/pre-merge-commit ; then
-        echo "Cannot install pre-merge-commit hook, upstream your hook to kernel-source/scripts"
-    else
-        ln -rfs "$GIT_DIR"/hooks/pre-commit "$GIT_DIR"/hooks/pre-merge-commit
-    fi
+    ln -rfs "$SCRIPTS_DIR"/git-pre-commit "$GIT_DIR"/hooks/kernel-source-pre-commit
+    declare -A hooks
+    hooks[pre-merge-commit]="$GIT_DIR"/hooks/pre-commit
+    hooks[commit-msg]="$SCRIPTS_DIR"/git-commit-msg
+    for h in ${!hooks[@]} ; do
+        if test -f "$GIT_DIR"/hooks/$h -a ! -L "$GIT_DIR"/hooks/$h ; then
+            echo "Cannot install $h hook, upstream your hook to kernel-source/scripts"
+        else
+            ln -rfs "${hooks[$h]}" "$GIT_DIR"/hooks/$h
+        fi
+    done
 }
 
 case "$1" in
diff --git a/scripts/prepare-maint-update b/scripts/prepare-maint-update
index a80944d..6e358a6 100755
--- a/scripts/prepare-maint-update
+++ b/scripts/prepare-maint-update
@@ -8,34 +8,85 @@ blu=$(tput setaf 4)
 nrm=$(tput sgr0)
 
 sn="${0##*/}"
-if [ $# -lt 1 ]; then
-    printf "${Red}usage:${nrm} %s <product> [branch] [kgraft_prj]\n" "$sn" >&2
+usage() {
+    printf "${Red}usage:${nrm} %s [-h] [-g <kgraft_prj> | -G] [-t tbranch] branch\n" "$sn"
+    #rintf "usage: "
+    printf "       Arg          Example\n"
+    printf "       -g kgraft_prj   SLE15-SP5_Update_9\n"
+    printf "       -G              no livepatch submission (e.g. when resubmitting)\n"
+    printf "       -t tbranch      SLE15-SP5 (specify target when branch is a user branch)\n"
+    printf "          branch       SLE15-SP5\n"
+}
+
+OPTS=$(getopt -o g:Gt:h -n "$sn" -- "$@")
+eval set -- "$OPTS"
+unset OPTS
+
+nolp=
+while true ; do
+    case "$1" in
+    '-g')
+        lp_proj="$2"
+        shift 2
+    ;;
+    '-G')
+        nolp=1
+        shift 1
+    ;;
+    '-t')
+        tbranch="$2"
+        shift 2
+    ;;
+    '-h')
+        usage >&2
+        exit 0
+    ;;
+    '--')
+        shift
+        break
+    ;;
+    *)
+        printf "${Red}Args parsing error${nrm}\n" >&2
+        exit 1
+        ;;
+    esac
+    continue
+done
+if [ $# -ne 1 ]; then
+    usage >&2
+    exit 1
+elif [ -n "$lp_proj" -a -n "$nolp" ] ; then
+    printf "${Red}-g and -G cannot be combined.${nrm}\n" >&2
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+branch="$1"
+tbranch="${tbranch:-${branch}}"
+if [[ "${tbranch}" =~ / ]] ; then
+    printf "${Red}Specify target branch explicitly without user prefix${nrm}\n" >&2
     exit 1
 fi
-tbranch="$1"
-prod="${1%-LTSS}"
-branch="${2:-$tbranch}"
-lp_proj="${3}"
 
 OSC_DIR="${OSC_DIR:-/tmp}"
 OSC="osc -A https://api.suse.de/"
-target="SUSE:SLE-${prod#SLE}:Update"
+prod="${tbranch%-LTSS}"
+target="SUSE:SLE-${prod#SLE}:Update" # this may be a parameter in future
 prj="Devel:Kernel:${tbranch}:Submit"
 kgraft_dir="Devel:kGraft:patches"
 
 if [ ! -d "$KSOURCE_GIT" ]; then
-    printf "${Red}Error: directory '%s' does not exist${nrm}\n" "$KSOURCE_GIT"
-    echo "Please set KSOURCE_GIT to the location of local kernel-source repository."
+    printf "${Red}Error: directory '%s' does not exist${nrm}\n" "$KSOURCE_GIT" >&2
+    echo "Please set KSOURCE_GIT to the location of local kernel-source repository." >&2
     exit 1
 fi
 if [ ! -d "$OSC_DIR" ]; then
-    printf "${Red}Error: directory '%s' does not exist${nrm}\n" "$OSC_DIR"
-    echo "Please set OSC_DIR to a directory to use for OBS/IBS checkouts."
+    printf "${Red}Error: directory '%s' does not exist${nrm}\n" "$OSC_DIR" >&2
+    echo "Please set OSC_DIR to a directory to use for OBS/IBS checkouts." >&2
     exit 1
 fi
 if ! $OSC api /about >/dev/null ; then
-    echo "${Red}Error: Cannot login to OBS${nrm}"
-    printf "Check your SSH key setup in .oscrc for '%s'\n" "$OSC"
+    echo "${Red}Error: Cannot login to OBS${nrm}" >&2
+    printf "Check your SSH key setup in .oscrc for '%s'\n" "$OSC" >&2
     exit 1
 fi
 
@@ -57,8 +108,10 @@ printf "Target branch:     ${blu}%s${nrm}\n" "$tbranch"
 printf "Submission branch: ${blu}%s${nrm}\n" "$branch"
 printf "Commit:            ${grn}%s${nrm}\n" \
   $(git --no-pager show -s --pretty='%h' "$branch")
-printf "Version: ${blu}%s${nrm}\n" "$version"
-printf "Update:  ${blu}%u${nrm}\n" "$upd"
+printf "Version:           ${blu}%s${nrm}\n" "$version"
+if [ -z "$nolp" ] ; then
+    printf "Kgraft prj:        ${blu}%s${nrm}\n" "$lp_proj"
+fi
 echo
 
 if ! git merge-base --is-ancestor "$branch" "$tbranch"; then
@@ -84,38 +137,42 @@ while read a; do
     archs="${archs}${archs:+ }${a#${smlp}}"
 done < <($OSC ls "$chanprj" | egrep "^$smlp")
 
-kgraft_prj="${kgraft_dir}:${lp_proj}"
-printf "${grn}* Copy kernel-livepatch-%s_Update_%u package...${nrm}\n" \
-    "$prod" "$upd"
-$OSC copypac "$kgraft_prj" \
-    "kernel-livepatch-${prod}_Update_${upd}" "$prj"
-
-inc_upd="s/${prod}_Update_[[:digit:]]+/${prod}_Update_${upd}/g"
-fixme="s/(${version//./_})-[[:digit:]_]+-/\1-FIXME-/"
-printf "${grn}* Branch %s* and update _channel...${nrm}\n" "$smlp"
-for a in $archs; do
-    printf "${grn}  * architecture %s...${nrm}\n" "$a"
-    $OSC bco "$chanprj" "${smlp}${a}" "$prj"
-    pushd "${prj}/${smlp}${a}" >/dev/null
-    # Copy last bunch packages of given product, update their versions and
-    # paste them in one block after last package
-    last_pkg=$(grep  -E "${prod}_Update_[[:digit:]]+" _channel | tail -1)
-    last_upd=$(echo "$last_pkg" | grep -oE "${prod}_Update_[[:digit:]]+" | tail -1)
-    prev_pkgs=$(grep -E "${last_upd}" _channel)
-    new_pkgs=$(echo -n "$prev_pkgs" | sed -re "${inc_upd} ; ${fixme} ; s/\$/\\\/")
-    # Assume no '|' in XML rows, escaping magic not to insert a trailing newline
-    sed -re "\|${last_pkg}| a \\
-${new_pkgs%\\}
-" -i _channel
-    $OSC commit -m "update channel file"
-    popd >/dev/null
-done
+if [ -z "$nolp" ] ; then
+    kgraft_prj="${kgraft_dir}:${lp_proj}"
+    printf "${grn}* Copy kernel-livepatch-%s_Update_%u package...${nrm}\n" \
+        "$prod" "$upd"
+    $OSC copypac "$kgraft_prj" \
+        "kernel-livepatch-${prod}_Update_${upd}" "$prj"
+
+    inc_upd="s/${prod}_Update_[[:digit:]]+/${prod}_Update_${upd}/g"
+    fixme="s/(${version//./_})-[[:digit:]_]+-/\1-FIXME-/"
+    printf "${grn}* Branch %s* and update _channel...${nrm}\n" "$smlp"
+    for a in $archs; do
+        printf "${grn}  * architecture %s...${nrm}\n" "$a"
+        $OSC bco "$chanprj" "${smlp}${a}" "$prj"
+        pushd "${prj}/${smlp}${a}" >/dev/null
+        # Copy last bunch packages of given product, update their versions and
+        # paste them in one block after last package
+        last_pkg=$(grep  -E "${prod}_Update_[[:digit:]]+" _channel | tail -1)
+        last_upd=$(echo "$last_pkg" | grep -oE "${prod}_Update_[[:digit:]]+" | tail -1)
+        prev_pkgs=$(grep -E "${last_upd}" _channel)
+        new_pkgs=$(echo -n "$prev_pkgs" | sed -re "${inc_upd} ; ${fixme} ; s/\$/\\\/")
+        # Assume no '|' in XML rows, escaping magic not to insert a trailing newline
+        sed -re "\|${last_pkg}| a \\
+    ${new_pkgs%\\}
+    " -i _channel
+        $OSC commit -m "update channel file"
+        popd >/dev/null
+    done
+fi
 
 echo -e "\n\nTo submit the update, run\n"
 printf "${red}  %s mr %s \\\\\n" "$OSC" "$prj"
 printf "      kernel-source \\\\\n"
-printf "      kernel-livepatch-%s_Update_%u \\\\\n" "$prod" "$upd"
-while read p; do
-    printf "      %s \\\\\n" "$p"
-done < <($OSC ls "$prj" | egrep "^$smlp")
+if [ -z "$nolp" ] ; then
+    printf "      kernel-livepatch-%s_Update_%u \\\\\n" "$prod" "$upd"
+    while read p; do
+        printf "      %s \\\\\n" "$p"
+    done < <($OSC ls "$prj" | egrep "^$smlp")
+fi
 printf "      %s${nrm}\n\n" "$target"