diff --git a/lib/ansible/inventory/__init__.py b/lib/ansible/inventory/__init__.py
index e7979011cd..337a0377c9 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/inventory/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/inventory/__init__.py
@@ -341,12 +341,12 @@ class Inventory(object):
             raise errors.AnsibleError("host not found: %s" % hostname)
 
         vars = {}
-        vars_results = [ plugin.run(host) for plugin in self._vars_plugins ] 
+        vars_results = [ plugin.run(host) for plugin in self._vars_plugins ]
         for updated in vars_results:
             if updated is not None:
-                vars.update(updated)
+                vars = utils.combine_vars(vars, updated)
 
-        vars.update(host.get_variables())
+        vars = utils.combine_vars(vars, host.get_variables())
         if self.parser is not None:
             vars = utils.combine_vars(vars, self.parser.get_host_variables(host))
         return vars