diff --git a/lib/ansible/playbook/play_context.py b/lib/ansible/playbook/play_context.py
index 63bea3b53b..5c0c1a8735 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/playbook/play_context.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/playbook/play_context.py
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ MAGIC_VARIABLE_MAPPING = dict(
    port             = ('ansible_ssh_port', 'ansible_port'),
    password         = ('ansible_ssh_pass', 'ansible_password'),
    private_key_file = ('ansible_ssh_private_key_file', 'ansible_private_key_file'),
+   pipelining       = ('ansible_ssh_pipelining', 'ansible_pipelining'),
    shell            = ('ansible_shell_type',),
    become           = ('ansible_become',),
    become_method    = ('ansible_become_method',),
@@ -133,6 +134,7 @@ class PlayContext(Base):
     _shell            = FieldAttribute(isa='string')
     _ssh_extra_args   = FieldAttribute(isa='string')
     _connection_lockfd= FieldAttribute(isa='int')
+    _pipelining       = FieldAttribute(isa='bool', default=C.ANSIBLE_SSH_PIPELINING)
 
     # privilege escalation fields
     _become           = FieldAttribute(isa='bool')
@@ -427,7 +429,7 @@ class PlayContext(Base):
         '''
 
         #FIXME: remove password? possibly add become/sudo settings
-        for special_var in  ['ansible_connection', 'ansible_ssh_host', 'ansible_ssh_pass', 'ansible_ssh_port', 'ansible_ssh_user', 'ansible_ssh_private_key_file']:
+        for special_var in  ['ansible_connection', 'ansible_ssh_host', 'ansible_ssh_pass', 'ansible_ssh_port', 'ansible_ssh_user', 'ansible_ssh_private_key_file', 'ansible_ssh_pipelining']:
             if special_var not in variables:
                 for prop, varnames in MAGIC_VARIABLE_MAPPING.items():
                     if special_var in varnames:
diff --git a/lib/ansible/plugins/action/__init__.py b/lib/ansible/plugins/action/__init__.py
index d9ee141e0e..dc67432d7b 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/plugins/action/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/plugins/action/__init__.py
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ class ActionBase:
         if tmp and "tmp" in tmp:
             # tmp has already been created
             return False
-        if not self._connection.has_pipelining or not C.ANSIBLE_SSH_PIPELINING or C.DEFAULT_KEEP_REMOTE_FILES or self._play_context.become_method == 'su':
+        if not self._connection.has_pipelining or not self._play_context.pipelining or C.DEFAULT_KEEP_REMOTE_FILES or self._play_context.become_method == 'su':
             # tmp is necessary to store the module source code
             # or we want to keep the files on the target system
             return True
@@ -367,7 +367,7 @@ class ActionBase:
             remote_module_path = self._connection._shell.join_path(tmp, module_name)
 
         # FIXME: async stuff here?
-        #if (module_style != 'new' or async_jid is not None or not self._connection._has_pipelining or not C.ANSIBLE_SSH_PIPELINING or C.DEFAULT_KEEP_REMOTE_FILES):
+        #if (module_style != 'new' or async_jid is not None or not self._connection._has_pipelining or not self._play_context.pipelining or C.DEFAULT_KEEP_REMOTE_FILES):
         if remote_module_path:
             self._display.debug("transferring module to remote")
             self._transfer_data(remote_module_path, module_data)
@@ -385,7 +385,7 @@ class ActionBase:
         # FIXME: all of the old-module style and async stuff has been removed from here, and
         #        might need to be re-added (unless we decide to drop support for old-style modules
         #        at this point and rework things to support non-python modules specifically)
-        if self._connection.has_pipelining and C.ANSIBLE_SSH_PIPELINING and not C.DEFAULT_KEEP_REMOTE_FILES:
+        if self._connection.has_pipelining and self._play_context.pipelining and not C.DEFAULT_KEEP_REMOTE_FILES:
             in_data = module_data
         else:
             if remote_module_path: