diff --git a/lib/ansible/connection.py b/lib/ansible/connection.py
index 6192eba4a8..924e3a3f27 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/connection.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/connection.py
@@ -132,15 +132,9 @@ class ParamikoConnection(object):
 
     def exec_command(self, cmd, tmp_path, sudoable=False):          # pylint: disable-msg=W0613
         ''' run a command on the remote host '''
-        bufsize = 4096                              # Could make this a Runner param if needed
-        timeout_secs = self.runner.timeout          # Reusing runner's TCP connect timeout as command progress timeout
-        chan = self.ssh.get_transport().open_session()
-        chan.settimeout(timeout_secs)
-        chan.get_pty()                              # Many sudo setups require a terminal; use in both cases for consistency
-        
         if not self.runner.sudo or not sudoable:
-            quoted_command = '"$SHELL" -c ' + pipes.quote(cmd) 
-            chan.exec_command(quoted_command)
+            stdin, stdout, stderr = self.ssh.exec_command(cmd)
+            return (stdin, stdout, stderr)
         else:
             # Rather than detect if sudo wants a password this time, -k makes 
             # sudo always ask for a password if one is required. The "--"
@@ -149,17 +143,25 @@ class ParamikoConnection(object):
             # directly doesn't work, so we shellquote it with pipes.quote() 
             # and pass the quoted string to the user's shell.
             sudocmd = 'sudo -k -- "$SHELL" -c ' + pipes.quote(cmd) 
+            bufsize = 4096                              # Could make this a Runner param if needed
+            timeout_secs = self.runner.timeout          # Reusing runner's TCP connect timeout as command progress timeout
+            chan = self.ssh.get_transport().open_session()
+            chan.settimeout(timeout_secs)
+            chan.get_pty()                              # Many sudo setups require a terminal
+            #print "exec_command: " + sudocmd
             chan.exec_command(sudocmd)
             if self.runner.sudo_pass:
                 while not chan.recv_ready():
                     time.sleep(0.25)
                 sudo_output = chan.recv(bufsize)        # Pull prompt, catch errors, eat sudo output
+                #print "exec_command: " + sudo_output
+                #print "exec_command: sending password"
                 chan.sendall(self.runner.sudo_pass + '\n')
 
-        stdin = chan.makefile('wb', bufsize) 
-        stdout = chan.makefile('rb', bufsize)
-        stderr = chan.makefile_stderr('rb', bufsize) 
-        return stdin, stdout, stderr
+            stdin = chan.makefile('wb', bufsize) 
+            stdout = chan.makefile('rb', bufsize)
+            stderr = chan.makefile_stderr('rb', bufsize) 
+            return stdin, stdout, stderr
 
     def put_file(self, in_path, out_path):
         ''' transfer a file from local to remote '''