diff --git a/lib/ansible/runner/__init__.py b/lib/ansible/runner/__init__.py
index e0bd167453..05eb1f6cdb 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/runner/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/runner/__init__.py
@@ -69,6 +69,22 @@ def _executor_hook(job_queue, result_queue):
         except:
             traceback.print_exc()
 
+class HostVars(dict):
+    ''' A special view of setup_cache that adds values from the inventory
+        when needed. '''
+    def __init__(self, setup_cache, inventory):
+        self.setup_cache = setup_cache
+        self.inventory = inventory
+        self.lookup = {}
+
+        self.update(setup_cache)
+
+    def __getitem__(self, host):
+        if not host in self.lookup:
+            self.lookup[host] = self.inventory.get_variables(host)
+        self.setup_cache[host].update(self.lookup[host])
+        return self.setup_cache[host]
+
 class Runner(object):
     ''' core API interface to ansible '''
 
@@ -252,7 +268,7 @@ class Runner(object):
         inject.update(host_variables)
         inject.update(self.module_vars)
         inject.update(self.setup_cache[host])
-        inject['hostvars'] = self.setup_cache
+        inject['hostvars'] = HostVars(self.setup_cache, self.inventory)
         inject['group_names'] = host_variables.get('group_names', [])
         inject['groups'] = self.inventory.groups_list()