diff --git a/git-harden.sh b/git-harden.sh
index 5c662ec..c1924da 100755
--- a/git-harden.sh
+++ b/git-harden.sh
@@ -65,6 +65,24 @@ die() {
     exit 1
 }
 
+# Strip inline comments and surrounding quotes from an SSH config value.
+# Handles: value # comment, "value", 'value', "value" # comment
+strip_ssh_value() {
+    local val="$1"
+    # Remove inline comment (not inside quotes): strip ' #...' from end
+    # Be careful: only strip ' #' preceded by space (not part of path)
+    val="$(printf '%s' "$val" | sed 's/[[:space:]]#.*$//')"
+    # Remove surrounding double quotes
+    val="${val#\"}"
+    val="${val%\"}"
+    # Remove surrounding single quotes
+    val="${val#\'}"
+    val="${val%\'}"
+    # Trim whitespace
+    val="$(printf '%s' "$val" | sed 's/^[[:space:]]*//;s/[[:space:]]*$//')"
+    printf '%s' "$val"
+}
+
 print_ok() {
     printf '%b[OK]%b   %s\n' "$GREEN" "$RESET" "$1" >&2
     AUDIT_OK=$((AUDIT_OK + 1))
@@ -209,7 +227,10 @@ check_dependencies() {
     fi
 
     local git_version
-    git_version="$(git --version | sed 's/[^0-9.]//g')"
+    git_version="$(git --version | grep -oE '[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+' | head -1)"
+    if [ -z "$git_version" ]; then
+        die "Could not parse git version from: $(git --version)"
+    fi
     if ! version_gte "$git_version" "2.34.0"; then
         die "git >= 2.34.0 required (found $git_version)"
     fi
@@ -395,6 +416,7 @@ audit_ssh_directive() {
 
     local current
     current="$(grep -i "^[[:space:]]*${directive}[[:space:]]" "$SSH_CONFIG" 2>/dev/null | head -1 | sed 's/^[[:space:]]*[^ ]*[[:space:]]*//' || true)"
+    current="$(strip_ssh_value "$current")"
 
     if [ -z "$current" ]; then
         print_miss "SSH: $directive (expected: $expected)"
@@ -615,11 +637,11 @@ detect_existing_keys() {
     if [ -f "$SSH_CONFIG" ]; then
         local identity_path
         while IFS= read -r identity_path; do
+            # Strip inline comments and quotes
+            identity_path="$(strip_ssh_value "$identity_path")"
+            [ -z "$identity_path" ] && continue
             # Expand tilde safely
             identity_path="${identity_path/#\~/$HOME}"
-            # Strip leading/trailing whitespace
-            identity_path="$(printf '%s' "$identity_path" | sed 's/^[[:space:]]*//;s/[[:space:]]*$//')"
-            [ -z "$identity_path" ] && continue
 
             pub_path="${identity_path}.pub"
             if [ -f "$pub_path" ]; then
@@ -827,6 +849,7 @@ apply_ssh_directive() {
     # Check if directive already exists with correct value (case-insensitive directive match)
     local current
     current="$(grep -i "^[[:space:]]*${directive}[[:space:]]" "$SSH_CONFIG" 2>/dev/null | head -1 | sed 's/^[[:space:]]*[^ ]*[[:space:]]*//' || true)"
+    current="$(strip_ssh_value "$current")"
 
     if [ "$current" = "$value" ]; then
         return
diff --git a/test/git-harden.bats b/test/git-harden.bats
index dd02484..84d9f9e 100755
--- a/test/git-harden.bats
+++ b/test/git-harden.bats
@@ -108,6 +108,60 @@ source_functions() {
     assert_failure
 }
 
+# ===========================================================================
+# Version extraction (grep-based, not sed)
+# ===========================================================================
+
+@test "version extraction handles standard git output" {
+    local ver
+    ver="$(echo "git version 2.39.5" | grep -oE '[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+' | head -1)"
+    [ "$ver" = "2.39.5" ]
+}
+
+@test "version extraction handles Apple Git suffix" {
+    local ver
+    ver="$(echo "git version 2.39.5 (Apple Git-154)" | grep -oE '[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+' | head -1)"
+    [ "$ver" = "2.39.5" ]
+}
+
+@test "version extraction handles rc suffix" {
+    local ver
+    ver="$(echo "git version 2.45.0-rc1" | grep -oE '[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+' | head -1)"
+    [ "$ver" = "2.45.0" ]
+}
+
+# ===========================================================================
+# strip_ssh_value helper
+# ===========================================================================
+
+@test "strip_ssh_value removes inline comment" {
+    source_functions
+    local result
+    result="$(strip_ssh_value "~/.ssh/id_ed25519 # signing key")"
+    [ "$result" = "~/.ssh/id_ed25519" ]
+}
+
+@test "strip_ssh_value removes surrounding double quotes" {
+    source_functions
+    local result
+    result="$(strip_ssh_value '"~/.ssh/my key"')"
+    [ "$result" = "~/.ssh/my key" ]
+}
+
+@test "strip_ssh_value removes quotes and comment together" {
+    source_functions
+    local result
+    result="$(strip_ssh_value '"~/.ssh/my key" # comment')"
+    [ "$result" = "~/.ssh/my key" ]
+}
+
+@test "strip_ssh_value handles plain value" {
+    source_functions
+    local result
+    result="$(strip_ssh_value "accept-new")"
+    [ "$result" = "accept-new" ]
+}
+
 # ===========================================================================
 # Audit: git config settings
 # ===========================================================================
@@ -493,6 +547,36 @@ SSHEOF
     [ "$SIGNING_PUB_PATH" = "${TEST_HOME}/.ssh/my_custom_key.pub" ]
 }
 
+@test "detect_existing_keys handles IdentityFile with inline comment" {
+    ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -f "${TEST_HOME}/.ssh/my_key" -N "" -q
+
+    cat > "${TEST_HOME}/.ssh/config" <<SSHEOF
+Host github.com
+    IdentityFile ${TEST_HOME}/.ssh/my_key # signing key
+SSHEOF
+
+    source_functions
+    detect_existing_keys
+
+    [ "$SIGNING_KEY_FOUND" = true ]
+    [ "$SIGNING_PUB_PATH" = "${TEST_HOME}/.ssh/my_key.pub" ]
+}
+
+@test "detect_existing_keys handles quoted IdentityFile path" {
+    ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -f "${TEST_HOME}/.ssh/my_key" -N "" -q
+
+    cat > "${TEST_HOME}/.ssh/config" <<SSHEOF
+Host github.com
+    IdentityFile "${TEST_HOME}/.ssh/my_key"
+SSHEOF
+
+    source_functions
+    detect_existing_keys
+
+    [ "$SIGNING_KEY_FOUND" = true ]
+    [ "$SIGNING_PUB_PATH" = "${TEST_HOME}/.ssh/my_key.pub" ]
+}
+
 @test "detect_existing_keys finds configured key via user.signingkey" {
     ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -f "${TEST_HOME}/.ssh/signing_key" -N "" -q
     git config --global user.signingkey "${TEST_HOME}/.ssh/signing_key.pub"