diff --git a/lib/ansible/playbook/task.py b/lib/ansible/playbook/task.py
index 3178b23aec..aab3bb3fed 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/playbook/task.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/playbook/task.py
@@ -41,9 +41,13 @@ class Task(object):
 
     def __init__(self, play, ds, module_vars=None):
         ''' constructor loads from a task or handler datastructure '''
+
+        # code to allow for saying "modulename: args" versus "action: modulename args"
+
         modules_list = set()
         for path in C.DEFAULT_MODULE_PATH.split(pathsep):
-            modules_list.update(os.listdir(path))
+            if os.path.exists(path):
+                modules_list.update(os.listdir(path))
         modules_list = list(modules_list)
         for x in ds.keys():
             if x in modules_list:
@@ -77,10 +81,10 @@ class Task(object):
 
         # delegate_to can use variables
         if not (self.delegate_to is None):
-	        self.delegate_to = utils.template(None, self.delegate_to, self.module_vars)
-	        # delegate_to: localhost should use local transport
-	        if self.delegate_to in ['127.0.0.1', 'localhost']:
-	            self.transport   = 'local'
+	    self.delegate_to = utils.template(None, self.delegate_to, self.module_vars)
+	    # delegate_to: localhost should use local transport
+	    if self.delegate_to in ['127.0.0.1', 'localhost']:
+	        self.transport   = 'local'
 
         # notified by is used by Playbook code to flag which hosts
         # need to run a notifier
diff --git a/lib/ansible/runner/__init__.py b/lib/ansible/runner/__init__.py
index 5a0f1f32cd..2b56e9df53 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/runner/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/runner/__init__.py
@@ -467,7 +467,7 @@ class Runner(object):
         data2 = utils.last_non_blank_line(data)
         try:
             return data2.split()[0]
-        except:
+        except IndexError:
             sys.stderr.write("warning: md5sum command failed unusually, please report this to the list so it can be fixed\n")
             sys.stderr.write("command: %s\n" % md5s)
             sys.stderr.write("----\n")