diff --git a/lib/ansible/runner/action_plugins/group_by.py b/lib/ansible/runner/action_plugins/group_by.py
index b115095c6b..aab4ad94fe 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/runner/action_plugins/group_by.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/runner/action_plugins/group_by.py
@@ -55,11 +55,9 @@ class ActionModule(object):
         groups = {}
 
         for host in self.runner.host_set:
-
-            data = inject['hostvars'][host]
-            if not check_conditional(template.template(self.runner.basedir, self.runner.conditional, data)):
+            if not check_conditional(template.template(self.runner.basedir, self.runner.conditional, inject)):
                 continue
-            group_name = template.template(self.runner.basedir, args['key'], data)
+            group_name = template.template(self.runner.basedir, args['key'], inject)
             group_name = group_name.replace(' ','-')
             if group_name not in groups:
                 groups[group_name] = []