diff --git a/library/packaging/pip b/library/packaging/pip
index 06314c6ec3..d4311c6f36 100644
--- a/library/packaging/pip
+++ b/library/packaging/pip
@@ -26,12 +26,13 @@ DOCUMENTATION = '''
 module: pip
 short_description: Manages Python library dependencies.
 description:
-     - Manage Python library dependencies.
+     - Manage Python library dependencies. To use this module, one of the following keys is required: C(name)
+       or C(requirements).
 version_added: "0.7"
 options:
   name:
     description:
-      - The name of a Python library to install
+      - The name of a Python library to install or the url of the remote package. 
     required: false
     default: null
   version:
@@ -93,6 +94,8 @@ examples:
      description: Install I(flask) python package.
    - code: "pip: name=flask version=0.8"
      description: Install I(flask) python package on version 0.8.
+   - code: "pip: name='svn+http://myrepo/svn/MyApp#egg=MyApp'"
+     description: Install I(MyApp) using one of the remote protocols (bzr+,hg+,git+,svn+) or tarballs (zip, gz, bz2) C(pip) supports. You do not have to supply '-e' option in extra_args. For these source names, C(use_mirrors) is ignored and not applicable.
    - code: "pip: name=flask virtualenv=/my_app/venv"
      description: "Install I(Flask) (U(http://flask.pocoo.org/)) into the specified I(virtualenv), inheriting none of the globally installed modules"
    - code: "pip: name=flask virtualenv=/my_app/venv virtualenv_site_packages=yes"
@@ -180,9 +183,23 @@ def main():
 
     if state == 'latest' and version is not None:
         module.fail_json(msg='version is incompatible with state=latest')
-    if name and '=' in name:
-        module.fail_json(msg='version must be specified in the version parameter')
 
+    # pip can accept a path to a local project or a VCS url beginning
+    # with svn+, git+, hg+, or bz+ and these sources usually do not qualify
+    # --use-mirrors. Furthermore, the -e option is applied only when
+    # source is a VCS url. Therefore, we will have branch cases for each
+    # type of sources.
+    #
+    # is_vcs includes those begin with svn+, git+, hg+ or bzr+
+    # is_tar ends with .zip, .tar.gz, or .tar.bz2
+    is_vcs = False
+    is_tar = False
+    if name.endswith('.tar.gz') or name.endswith('.tar.bz2') or name.endswith('.zip'):
+        is_tar = True
+    elif name.startswith('svn+') or name.startswith('git+') or \
+       name.startswith('hg+') or name.startswith('bzr+'):
+        is_vcs = True
+       
     err = ''
     out = ''
 
@@ -208,7 +225,20 @@ def main():
     pip = _get_pip(module, env)
 
     cmd = '%s %s' % (pip, state_map[state])
-    if state != 'absent' and use_mirrors:
+
+
+    # If is_vcs=True, we must add -e option (we assume users won't add that to extra_args). 
+    if is_vcs:
+        args_list = []  # used if extra_args is not used at all
+        if extra_args:
+            args_list = extra_args.split(' ')            
+        if '-e' not in args_list:
+            args_list.append('-e')
+            # Ok, we will reconstruct the option string
+            extra_args = ' '.join(args_list)
+    # for tarball or vcs source, applying --use-mirrors doesn't really make sense
+    is_package = is_vcs or is_tar       # just a shortcut for bool
+    if not is_package and state != 'absent' and use_mirrors:
         cmd += ' --use-mirrors'
     if extra_args:
         cmd += ' %s' % extra_args
@@ -216,7 +246,7 @@ def main():
         cmd += ' %s' % _get_full_name(name, version)
     elif requirements:
         cmd += ' -r %s' % requirements
-
+    
     if module.check_mode:
         module.exit_json(changed=True)
     os.chdir(tempfile.gettempdir())