diff --git a/lib/ansible/parsing/splitter.py b/lib/ansible/parsing/splitter.py
index a1dc051d24..f2162814da 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/parsing/splitter.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/parsing/splitter.py
@@ -264,7 +264,7 @@ def split_args(args):
     return params
 
 def is_quoted(data):
-    return len(data) > 0 and (data[0] == '"' and data[-1] == '"' or data[0] == "'" and data[-1] == "'")
+    return len(data) > 1 and data[0] == data[-1] and data[0] in ('"', "'") and data[-2] != '\\'
 
 def unquote(data):
     ''' removes first and last quotes from a string, if the string starts and ends with the same quotes '''
diff --git a/test/units/parsing/test_unquote.py b/test/units/parsing/test_unquote.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..afb11d4e23
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/units/parsing/test_unquote.py
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+# coding: utf-8
+# (c) 2015, Toshio Kuratomi <tkuratomi@ansible.com>
+#
+# This file is part of Ansible
+#
+# Ansible is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# Ansible is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with Ansible.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+# Make coding more python3-ish
+from __future__ import (absolute_import, division, print_function)
+__metaclass__ = type
+
+from nose import tools
+from ansible.compat.tests import unittest
+
+from ansible.parsing.splitter import unquote
+
+
+# Tests using nose's test generators cannot use unittest base class.
+# http://nose.readthedocs.org/en/latest/writing_tests.html#test-generators
+class TestUnquote:
+    UNQUOTE_DATA = (
+            (u'1', u'1'),
+            (u'\'1\'', u'1'),
+            (u'"1"', u'1'),
+            (u'"1 \'2\'"', u'1 \'2\''),
+            (u'\'1 "2"\'', u'1 "2"'),
+            (u'\'1 \'2\'\'', u'1 \'2\''),
+            (u'"1\\"', u'"1\\"'),
+            (u'\'1\\\'', u'\'1\\\''),
+            (u'"1 \\"2\\" 3"', u'1 \\"2\\" 3'),
+            (u'\'1 \\\'2\\\' 3\'', u'1 \\\'2\\\' 3'),
+            (u'"', u'"'),
+            (u'\'', u'\''),
+            # Not entirely sure these are good but they match the current
+            # behaviour
+            (u'"1""2"', u'1""2'),
+            (u'\'1\'\'2\'', u'1\'\'2'),
+            (u'"1" 2 "3"', u'1" 2 "3'),
+            (u'"1"\'2\'"3"', u'1"\'2\'"3'),
+            )
+
+    def check_unquote(self, quoted, expected):
+        tools.eq_(unquote(quoted), expected)
+
+    def test_unquote(self):
+        for datapoint in self.UNQUOTE_DATA:
+            yield self.check_unquote, datapoint[0], datapoint[1]