diff --git a/lib/core/private.h b/lib/core/private.h
index d108e18e6..e4d25170d 100644
--- a/lib/core/private.h
+++ b/lib/core/private.h
@@ -134,8 +134,10 @@
 	 // Visual studio older than 2015 and WIN_CE has only _stricmp
 	#if (defined(_MSC_VER) && _MSC_VER < 1900) || defined(_WIN32_WCE)
 	#define strcasecmp _stricmp
+	#define strncasecmp _strnicmp
 	#elif !defined(__MINGW32__)
 	#define strcasecmp stricmp
+	#define strncasecmp strnicmp
 	#endif
 	#define getdtablesize() 30000
 #endif
diff --git a/lib/roles/ws/client-ws.c b/lib/roles/ws/client-ws.c
index ab3709654..9c8de75d9 100644
--- a/lib/roles/ws/client-ws.c
+++ b/lib/roles/ws/client-ws.c
@@ -300,15 +300,17 @@ lws_client_ws_upgrade(struct lws *wsi, const char **cce)
 		e = lws_tokenize(&ts);
 		switch (e) {
 		case LWS_TOKZE_TOKEN:
-			if (!strcasecmp(ts.token, "upgrade"))
+			if (!strncasecmp(ts.token, "upgrade", ts.token_len))
 				e = LWS_TOKZE_ENDED;
 			break;
 
 		case LWS_TOKZE_DELIMITER:
 			break;
 
-		default: /* includes ENDED */
+		default: /* includes ENDED found by the tokenizer itself */
 bad_conn_format:
+			lwsl_info("%s: malfored connection '%s'\n",
+				  __func__, buf);
 			*cce = "HS: UPGRADE malformed";
 			goto bail3;
 		}