diff --git a/lib/ansible/constants.py b/lib/ansible/constants.py
index 7c6195d896..f38b503949 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/constants.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/constants.py
@@ -78,7 +78,6 @@ DEFAULT_TRANSPORT         = get_config(p, DEFAULTS, 'transport',        'ANSIBLE
 
 # non-configurable things
 DEFAULT_REMOTE_PASS       = None
-DEFAULT_TRANSPORT_OPTS    = ['local', 'paramiko', 'ssh']
 DEFAULT_SUDO_PASS         = None
 DEFAULT_SUBSET            = None
 
diff --git a/lib/ansible/runner/connection/__init__.py b/lib/ansible/runner/connection.py
similarity index 67%
rename from lib/ansible/runner/connection/__init__.py
rename to lib/ansible/runner/connection.py
index eda7b61df0..379fbd2183 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/runner/connection/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/runner/connection.py
@@ -18,9 +18,16 @@
 
 ################################################
 
-import local
-import paramiko_ssh
-import ssh
+from ansible import utils
+from ansible.errors import AnsibleError
+
+import os.path
+dirname = os.path.dirname(__file__)
+modules = utils.import_plugins(os.path.join(dirname, 'connections'))
+
+# rename this module
+modules['paramiko'] = modules['paramiko_ssh']
+del modules['paramiko_ssh']
 
 class Connection(object):
     ''' Handles abstract connections to remote hosts '''
@@ -31,13 +38,9 @@ class Connection(object):
     def connect(self, host, port=None):
         conn = None
         transport = self.runner.transport
-        if transport == 'local':
-            conn = local.LocalConnection(self.runner, host)
-        elif transport == 'paramiko':
-            conn = paramiko_ssh.ParamikoConnection(self.runner, host, port)
-        elif transport == 'ssh':
-            conn = ssh.SSHConnection(self.runner, host, port)
-        if conn is None:
-            raise Exception("unsupported connection type")
+        module = modules.get(transport, None)
+        if module is None:
+            raise AnsibleError("unsupported connection type: %s" % transport)
+        conn = module.Connection(self.runner, host, port)
         return conn.connect()
 
diff --git a/lib/ansible/runner/connection/local.py b/lib/ansible/runner/connections/local.py
similarity index 95%
rename from lib/ansible/runner/connection/local.py
rename to lib/ansible/runner/connections/local.py
index c0ddb50842..f1ae2e0804 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/runner/connection/local.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/runner/connections/local.py
@@ -22,12 +22,14 @@ import subprocess
 from ansible import errors
 from ansible.callbacks import vvv
 
-class LocalConnection(object):
+class Connection(object):
     ''' Local based connections '''
 
-    def __init__(self, runner, host):
+    def __init__(self, runner, host, port):
         self.runner = runner
         self.host = host
+        # port is unused, since this is local
+        self.port = port 
 
     def connect(self, port=None):
         ''' connect to the local host; nothing to do here '''
diff --git a/lib/ansible/runner/connection/paramiko_ssh.py b/lib/ansible/runner/connections/paramiko_ssh.py
similarity index 99%
rename from lib/ansible/runner/connection/paramiko_ssh.py
rename to lib/ansible/runner/connections/paramiko_ssh.py
index 7ab23b25a1..d4083f5d22 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/runner/connection/paramiko_ssh.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/runner/connections/paramiko_ssh.py
@@ -33,10 +33,11 @@ with warnings.catch_warnings():
     except ImportError:
         pass
 
-class ParamikoConnection(object):
+class Connection(object):
     ''' SSH based connections with Paramiko '''
 
     def __init__(self, runner, host, port=None):
+
         self.ssh = None
         self.runner = runner
         self.host = host
diff --git a/lib/ansible/runner/connection/ssh.py b/lib/ansible/runner/connections/ssh.py
similarity index 99%
rename from lib/ansible/runner/connection/ssh.py
rename to lib/ansible/runner/connections/ssh.py
index 85dce9d8ea..788989c3a6 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/runner/connection/ssh.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/runner/connections/ssh.py
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ import ansible.constants as C
 from ansible.callbacks import vvv
 from ansible import errors
 
-class SSHConnection(object):
+class Connection(object):
     ''' ssh based connections '''
 
     def __init__(self, runner, host, port):
diff --git a/lib/ansible/utils.py b/lib/ansible/utils.py
index 5680f613e0..e44691c7a4 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/utils.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/utils.py
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ from ansible import __version__
 import ansible.constants as C
 import time
 import StringIO
+import imp
+import glob
 
 VERBOSITY=0
 
@@ -393,7 +395,6 @@ def base_parser(constants=C, usage="", output_opts=False, runas_opts=False,
 
     if connect_opts:
         parser.add_option('-c', '--connection', dest='connection',
-                          choices=C.DEFAULT_TRANSPORT_OPTS,
                           default=C.DEFAULT_TRANSPORT,
                           help="connection type to use (default=%s)" % C.DEFAULT_TRANSPORT)
 
@@ -451,3 +452,14 @@ def filter_leading_non_json_lines(buf):
             filtered_lines.write(line + '\n')
     return filtered_lines.getvalue()
 
+    import glob, imp
+    from os.path import join, basename, splitext
+    
+def import_plugins(directory):
+    modules = {}
+    for path in glob.glob(os.path.join(directory, '*.py')): 
+        name, ext = os.path.splitext(os.path.basename(path))
+        modules[name] = imp.load_source(name, path)
+    return modules
+
+