diff --git a/lib/ansible/module_utils/nxos.py b/lib/ansible/module_utils/nxos.py
index c73dae19ac..bf08a4b62e 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/module_utils/nxos.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/module_utils/nxos.py
@@ -72,9 +72,9 @@ def get_connection(module):
     global _DEVICE_CONNECTION
     if not _DEVICE_CONNECTION:
         load_params(module)
-        if 'transport' not in module.params:
-            conn = Cli(module)
-        elif module.params['transport'] == 'nxapi':
+        transport = module.params['transport']
+        provider_transport = (module.params['provider'] or {}).get('transport')
+        if 'nxapi' in (transport, provider_transport):
             conn = Nxapi(module)
         else:
             conn = Cli(module)
diff --git a/lib/ansible/plugins/action/nxos.py b/lib/ansible/plugins/action/nxos.py
index 51b5215302..09195bc9c3 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/plugins/action/nxos.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/plugins/action/nxos.py
@@ -87,6 +87,7 @@ class ActionModule(_ActionModule):
 
         else:
             provider_arg = {
+                'transport': 'nxapi',
                 'host': self._play_context.remote_addr,
                 'port': provider.get('port'),
                 'username': provider.get('username') or self._play_context.connection_user,