diff --git a/lib/ansible/plugins/action/__init__.py b/lib/ansible/plugins/action/__init__.py
index 5509bb2d94..4b2d7abe27 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/plugins/action/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/plugins/action/__init__.py
@@ -161,12 +161,12 @@ class ActionBase:
             if result['rc'] == 5:
                 output = 'Authentication failure.'
             elif result['rc'] == 255 and self._connection.transport in ('ssh',):
-                # FIXME: more utils.VERBOSITY
-                #if utils.VERBOSITY > 3:
-                #    output = 'SSH encountered an unknown error. The output was:\n%s' % (result['stdout']+result['stderr'])
-                #else:
-                #    output = 'SSH encountered an unknown error during the connection. We recommend you re-run the command using -vvvv, which will enable SSH debugging output to help diagnose the issue'
-                output = 'SSH encountered an unknown error. The output was:\n%s' % (result['stdout']+result['stderr'])
+
+                if self._connection_info.verbosity > 3:
+                    output = 'SSH encountered an unknown error. The output was:\n%s' % (result['stdout']+result['stderr'])
+                else:
+                    output = 'SSH encountered an unknown error during the connection. We recommend you re-run the command using -vvvv, which will enable SSH debugging output to help diagnose the issue'
+
             elif 'No space left on device' in result['stderr']:
                 output = result['stderr']
             else:
@@ -462,7 +462,7 @@ class ActionBase:
             err = stderr
 
         debug("done with _low_level_execute_command() (%s)" % (cmd,))
-        if rc is not None:
-            return dict(rc=rc, stdout=out, stderr=err)
-        else:
-            return dict(stdout=out, stderr=err)
+        if rc is None:
+            rc = 0
+
+        return dict(rc=rc, stdout=out, stderr=err)
diff --git a/lib/ansible/plugins/connections/ssh.py b/lib/ansible/plugins/connections/ssh.py
index e2251ca5b0..4a3ea4f5a2 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/plugins/connections/ssh.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/plugins/connections/ssh.py
@@ -398,14 +398,14 @@ class Connection(ConnectionBase):
 
         super(Connection, self).put_file(in_path, out_path)
 
-        self._display.vvv("PUT {0} TO {1}".format(in_path, out_path), host=self._connection_info.remote_addr)
+        # FIXME: make a function, used in all 3 methods EXEC/PUT/FETCH
+        host = self._connection_info.remote_addr
+
+        self._display.vvv("PUT {0} TO {1}".format(in_path, out_path), host=host)
         if not os.path.exists(in_path):
             raise AnsibleFileNotFound("file or module does not exist: {0}".format(in_path))
         cmd = self._password_cmd()
 
-        # FIXME: make a function, used in all 3 methods EXEC/PUT/FETCH
-        host = self._connection_info.remote_addr
-
         # FIXME: ipv6 stuff needs to be figured out. It's in the connection info, however
         #        not sure if it's all working yet so this remains commented out
         #if self._ipv6:
@@ -436,12 +436,13 @@ class Connection(ConnectionBase):
 
         super(Connection, self).fetch_file(in_path, out_path)
 
-        self._display.vvv("FETCH {0} TO {1}".format(in_path, out_path), host=self._connection_info.remote_addr)
-        cmd = self._password_cmd()
-
         # FIXME: make a function, used in all 3 methods EXEC/PUT/FETCH
         host = self._connection_info.remote_addr
 
+        self._display.vvv("FETCH {0} TO {1}".format(in_path, out_path), host=host)
+        cmd = self._password_cmd()
+
+
         # FIXME: ipv6 stuff needs to be figured out. It's in the connection info, however
         #        not sure if it's all working yet so this remains commented out
         #if self._ipv6:
@@ -467,5 +468,14 @@ class Connection(ConnectionBase):
 
     def close(self):
         ''' not applicable since we're executing openssh binaries '''
+
+        if 'ControlMaster' in self._common_args:
+            cmd = ['ssh','-O','stop']
+            cmd.extend(self._common_args)
+            cmd.append(self._connection_info.remote_addr)
+
+            p = subprocess.Popen(cmd, stdin=subprocess.PIPE, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
+            stdout, stderr = p.communicate()
+
         self._connected = False