diff --git a/lib/ansible/template/__init__.py b/lib/ansible/template/__init__.py
index 095e18740a..709ee03ef8 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/template/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/template/__init__.py
@@ -299,6 +299,7 @@ class Templar:
                     # Check to see if the string we are trying to render is just referencing a single
                     # var.  In this case we don't want to accidentally change the type of the variable
                     # to a string by using the jinja template renderer. We just want to pass it.
+                    var_name = None
                     only_one = self.SINGLE_VAR.match(variable)
                     if only_one:
                         var_name = only_one.group(1)
@@ -313,7 +314,7 @@ class Templar:
                     variable_hash = sha1(text_type(variable).encode('utf-8'))
                     options_hash  = sha1((text_type(preserve_trailing_newlines) + text_type(escape_backslashes) + text_type(fail_on_undefined) + text_type(overrides)).encode('utf-8'))
                     sha1_hash = variable_hash.hexdigest() + options_hash.hexdigest()
-                    if sha1_hash in self._cached_result:
+                    if var_name not in (None, 'item') and sha1_hash in self._cached_result:
                         result = self._cached_result[sha1_hash]
                     else:
                         result = self._do_template(variable, preserve_trailing_newlines=preserve_trailing_newlines, escape_backslashes=escape_backslashes, fail_on_undefined=fail_on_undefined, overrides=overrides)
@@ -327,10 +328,13 @@ class Templar:
                                 else:
                                     # FIXME: if the safe_eval raised an error, should we do something with it?
                                     pass
-                        self._cached_result[sha1_hash] = result
 
+                        # we only cache in the case where we have a single variable
+                        # name, to make sure we're not putting things which may otherwise
+                        # be dynamic in the cache (filters, lookups, etc.)
+                        if var_name not in (None, 'item'):
+                            self._cached_result[sha1_hash] = result
 
-                #return self._clean_data(result)
                 return result
 
             elif isinstance(variable, (list, tuple)):
diff --git a/lib/ansible/vars/__init__.py b/lib/ansible/vars/__init__.py
index fd912ceaec..a332bbd2c7 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/vars/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/vars/__init__.py
@@ -272,7 +272,6 @@ class VariableManager:
                 # we assume each item in the list is itself a list, as we
                 # support "conditional includes" for vars_files, which mimics
                 # the with_first_found mechanism.
-                #vars_file_list = templar.template(vars_file_item)
                 vars_file_list = vars_file_item
                 if not isinstance(vars_file_list, list):
                      vars_file_list = [ vars_file_list ]