diff --git a/lib/ansible/runner/__init__.py b/lib/ansible/runner/__init__.py
index 66503da0fd..0613bc73f7 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/runner/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/runner/__init__.py
@@ -467,7 +467,7 @@ class Runner(object):
                 inject['item'] = x
 
                 # TODO: this idiom should be replaced with an up-conversion to a Jinja2 template evaluation
-                if isinstance(sel.fcomplex_args, basestring):
+                if isinstance(self.complex_args, basestring):
                     complex_args = template.template(self.basedir, self.complex_args, inject, convert_bare=True)
                     complex_args = utils.safe_eval(complex_args)
                     if type(complex_args) != dict: