diff --git a/docsite/latest/rst/intro_configuration.rst b/docsite/latest/rst/intro_configuration.rst
index f6e34c1b9d..73fa022879 100644
--- a/docsite/latest/rst/intro_configuration.rst
+++ b/docsite/latest/rst/intro_configuration.rst
@@ -109,6 +109,15 @@ different locations::
 
 Most users will not need to use this feature.  See `developing_plugins` for more details
 
+display_skipped_hosts
+=====================
+
+If set to `False`, ansible will not display any status for a task that is skipped. The default behavior is to display skipped tasks::
+
+    #display_skipped_hosts=True
+
+Note that Ansible will always show the task header for any task, regardless of whether or not the task is skipped.
+
 error_on_undefined_vars
 =======================
 
diff --git a/examples/ansible.cfg b/examples/ansible.cfg
index 57e721a77b..1649b1d646 100644
--- a/examples/ansible.cfg
+++ b/examples/ansible.cfg
@@ -72,6 +72,12 @@ timeout = 10
 # replacing {file}, {host} and {uid} and strftime codes with proper values.
 ansible_managed = Ansible managed: {file} modified on %Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S by {uid} on {host}
 
+# by default, ansible-playbook will display "Skipping [host]" if it determines a task
+# should not be run on a host.  Set this to "False" if you don't want to see these "Skipping" 
+# messages. NOTE: the task header will still be shown regardless of whether or not the 
+# task is skipped.
+#display_skipped_hosts = True
+
 # by default (as of 1.3), Ansible will raise errors when attempting to dereference 
 # Jinja2 variables that are not set in templates or action lines. Uncomment this line
 # to revert the behavior to pre-1.3.
diff --git a/lib/ansible/callbacks.py b/lib/ansible/callbacks.py
index ff35ff054f..f2c7cbbb00 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/callbacks.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/callbacks.py
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ def get_cowsay_info():
 cowsay, noncow = get_cowsay_info()
 
 def log_lockfile():
-    tempdir = tempfile.gettempdir() 
+    tempdir = tempfile.gettempdir()
     uid = os.getuid()
     path = os.path.join(tempdir, ".ansible-lock.%s" % uid)
     return path
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ def log_flock(runner):
             fcntl.lockf(LOG_LOCK, fcntl.LOCK_EX)
         except OSError:
             pass
-        
+
 
 def log_unflock(runner):
     if runner is not None:
@@ -471,7 +471,7 @@ class PlaybookRunnerCallbacks(DefaultRunnerCallbacks):
         super(PlaybookRunnerCallbacks, self).on_failed(host, results, ignore_errors=ignore_errors)
 
     def on_ok(self, host, host_result):
-        
+
         item = host_result.get('item', None)
 
         host_result2 = host_result.copy()
@@ -519,13 +519,14 @@ class PlaybookRunnerCallbacks(DefaultRunnerCallbacks):
         super(PlaybookRunnerCallbacks, self).on_error(host, err)
 
     def on_skipped(self, host, item=None):
-        msg = ''
-        if item:
-            msg = "skipping: [%s] => (item=%s)" % (host, item)
-        else:
-            msg = "skipping: [%s]" % host
-        display(msg, color='cyan', runner=self.runner)
-        super(PlaybookRunnerCallbacks, self).on_skipped(host, item)
+        if constants.DISPLAY_SKIPPED_HOSTS:
+            msg = ''
+            if item:
+                msg = "skipping: [%s] => (item=%s)" % (host, item)
+            else:
+                msg = "skipping: [%s]" % host
+            display(msg, color='cyan', runner=self.runner)
+            super(PlaybookRunnerCallbacks, self).on_skipped(host, item)
 
     def on_no_hosts(self):
         display("FATAL: no hosts matched or all hosts have already failed -- aborting\n", color='red', runner=self.runner)
@@ -581,7 +582,7 @@ class PlaybookCallbacks(object):
         msg = "TASK: [%s]" % name
         if is_conditional:
             msg = "NOTIFIED: [%s]" % name
-        
+
         if hasattr(self, 'start_at'):
             if name == self.start_at or fnmatch.fnmatch(name, self.start_at):
                 # we found out match, we can get rid of this now
diff --git a/lib/ansible/constants.py b/lib/ansible/constants.py
index d37f0c58b5..0721be6dff 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/constants.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/constants.py
@@ -130,6 +130,7 @@ DEFAULT_LOG_PATH               = shell_expand_path(get_config(p, DEFAULTS, 'log_
 
 ANSIBLE_NOCOLOR                = get_config(p, DEFAULTS, 'nocolor', 'ANSIBLE_NOCOLOR', None, boolean=True)
 ANSIBLE_NOCOWS                 = get_config(p, DEFAULTS, 'nocows', 'ANSIBLE_NOCOWS', None, boolean=True)
+DISPLAY_SKIPPED_HOSTS          = get_config(p, DEFAULTS, 'display_skipped_hosts', 'DISPLAY_SKIPPED_HOSTS', True, boolean=True)
 ANSIBLE_SSH_ARGS               = get_config(p, 'ssh_connection', 'ssh_args', 'ANSIBLE_SSH_ARGS', None)
 ANSIBLE_SSH_CONTROL_PATH       = get_config(p, 'ssh_connection', 'control_path', 'ANSIBLE_SSH_CONTROL_PATH', "%(directory)s/ansible-ssh-%%h-%%p-%%r")
 PARAMIKO_RECORD_HOST_KEYS      = get_config(p, 'paramiko_connection', 'record_host_keys', 'ANSIBLE_PARAMIKO_RECORD_HOST_KEYS', True, boolean=True)