diff --git a/examples/ansible.cfg b/examples/ansible.cfg
index 6f472bf66b..aaffca9f9f 100644
--- a/examples/ansible.cfg
+++ b/examples/ansible.cfg
@@ -125,6 +125,10 @@ lookup_plugins     = /usr/share/ansible_plugins/lookup_plugins
 vars_plugins       = /usr/share/ansible_plugins/vars_plugins
 filter_plugins     = /usr/share/ansible_plugins/filter_plugins
 
+# set to 1 if you don't want cowsay support. Alternatively, set ANSIBLE_NOCOWS=1
+# in your environment
+# nocows           = 1
+
 [paramiko_connection]
 
 # nothing to configure yet
diff --git a/lib/ansible/callbacks.py b/lib/ansible/callbacks.py
index 75299e7284..a73f7a84d2 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/callbacks.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/callbacks.py
@@ -23,9 +23,10 @@ import subprocess
 import random
 import fnmatch
 from ansible.color import stringc
+import ansible.constants as C
 
 cowsay = None
-if os.getenv("ANSIBLE_NOCOWS") is not None:
+if C.ANSIBLE_NOCOWS is not None:
     cowsay = None
 elif os.path.exists("/usr/bin/cowsay"):
     cowsay = "/usr/bin/cowsay"
diff --git a/lib/ansible/constants.py b/lib/ansible/constants.py
index fb6af67afc..b11a796062 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/constants.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/constants.py
@@ -103,6 +103,7 @@ DEFAULT_CONNECTION_PLUGIN_PATH = shell_expand_path(get_config(p, DEFAULTS, 'conn
 DEFAULT_LOOKUP_PLUGIN_PATH     = shell_expand_path(get_config(p, DEFAULTS, 'lookup_plugins',     'ANSIBLE_LOOKUP_PLUGINS', '/usr/share/ansible_plugins/lookup_plugins'))
 DEFAULT_VARS_PLUGIN_PATH     = shell_expand_path(get_config(p, DEFAULTS, 'vars_plugins',     'ANSIBLE_VARS_PLUGINS', '/usr/share/ansible_plugins/vars_plugins'))
 DEFAULT_FILTER_PLUGIN_PATH     = shell_expand_path(get_config(p, DEFAULTS, 'filter_plugins',     'ANSIBLE_FILTER_PLUGINS', '/usr/share/ansible_plugins/filter_plugins'))
+ANSIBLE_NOCOWS         = get_config(p, DEFAULTS, 'nocows',        'ANSIBLE_NOCOWS',        None)
 
 # non-configurable things
 DEFAULT_SUDO_PASS         = None