diff --git a/lib/ansible/plugins/action/script.py b/lib/ansible/plugins/action/script.py
index a0d6640548..c16fc227c4 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/plugins/action/script.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/plugins/action/script.py
@@ -26,6 +26,13 @@ from ansible.plugins.action import ActionBase
 class ActionModule(ActionBase):
     TRANSFERS_FILES = True
 
+    def _get_remote_raw_stat(self, path):
+        cmd = ['test', '-e', path]
+        result = self._low_level_execute_command(cmd=' '.join(cmd), sudoable=True)
+        if result['rc'] == 0:
+            return True
+        return False
+
     def run(self, tmp=None, task_vars=None):
         ''' handler for file transfer operations '''
         if task_vars is None:
@@ -47,9 +54,7 @@ class ActionModule(ActionBase):
             # do not run the command if the line contains creates=filename
             # and the filename already exists. This allows idempotence
             # of command executions.
-            res = self._execute_module(module_name='stat', module_args=dict(path=creates), task_vars=task_vars, tmp=tmp, persist_files=True)
-            stat = res.get('stat', None)
-            if stat and stat.get('exists', False):
+            if self._get_remote_raw_stat(creates):
                 return dict(skipped=True, msg=("skipped, since %s exists" % creates))
 
         removes = self._task.args.get('removes')
@@ -57,9 +62,7 @@ class ActionModule(ActionBase):
             # do not run the command if the line contains removes=filename
             # and the filename does not exist. This allows idempotence
             # of command executions.
-            res = self._execute_module(module_name='stat', module_args=dict(path=removes), task_vars=task_vars, tmp=tmp, persist_files=True)
-            stat = res.get('stat', None)
-            if stat and not stat.get('exists', False):
+            if self._get_remote_raw_stat(removes):
                 return dict(skipped=True, msg=("skipped, since %s does not exist" % removes))
 
         # the script name is the first item in the raw params, so we split it
diff --git a/test/integration/roles/test_script/tasks/main.yml b/test/integration/roles/test_script/tasks/main.yml
index ffbe40d600..75a75d9d69 100644
--- a/test/integration/roles/test_script/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/test/integration/roles/test_script/tasks/main.yml
@@ -66,4 +66,4 @@
 - name: assert that the file was removed by the script
   assert:
     that:
-      - "script_result1.changed != True"
+      - "script_result1|changed"