diff --git a/lib/ansible/utils/helpers.py b/lib/ansible/utils/helpers.py
index 997e597fb5..900e0d1ac3 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/utils/helpers.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/utils/helpers.py
@@ -34,8 +34,10 @@ def pct_to_int(value, num_items, min_value=1):
         return int(value)
 
 
-def object_to_dict(obj):
+def object_to_dict(obj, exclude=None):
     """
-    Converts an object into a dict making the properties into keys
+    Converts an object into a dict making the properties into keys, allows excluding certain keys
     """
-    return dict((key, getattr(obj, key)) for key in dir(obj) if not key.startswith('__'))
+    if exclude is None or not isinstance(exclude, list):
+        exclude = []
+    return dict((key, getattr(obj, key)) for key in dir(obj) if not (key.startswith('_') or key in exclude))