diff --git a/.hlint.yaml b/.hlint.yaml
index 361296740..48f50c20a 100644
--- a/.hlint.yaml
+++ b/.hlint.yaml
@@ -40,7 +40,6 @@
 - ignore: {name: "Use fewer imports"}
 - ignore: {name: "Use mapMaybe"}
 - ignore: {name: "Use intercalate"}
-- ignore: {name: "Use guards"}
 - ignore: {name: "Use tuple-section"}
 - ignore: {name: "Use section"}
 - ignore: {name: "Use maybe"}
diff --git a/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Commands/Balance.hs b/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Commands/Balance.hs
index 120473c9c..68dd3fe12 100644
--- a/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Commands/Balance.hs
+++ b/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Commands/Balance.hs
@@ -499,8 +499,10 @@ renderComponent topaligned oneline opts (acctname, depth, total) (FormatField lj
     TotalField       -> Cell align . pure $ showMixedAmountB dopts total
     _                -> Cell align [mempty]
   where
-    align = if topaligned then (if ljust then TopLeft    else TopRight)
-                          else (if ljust then BottomLeft else BottomRight)
+    align | topaligned && ljust = TopLeft
+          | topaligned          = TopRight
+          | ljust               = BottomLeft
+          | otherwise           = BottomRight
     dopts = (balanceOpts True opts){displayOneLine=oneline, displayMinWidth=mmin, displayMaxWidth=mmax}
 
 -- rendering multi-column balance reports