diff --git a/lib/ansible/runner/filter_plugins/core.py b/lib/ansible/runner/filter_plugins/core.py
index 293ebc4ae36..57dd9debebb 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/runner/filter_plugins/core.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/runner/filter_plugins/core.py
@@ -140,19 +140,40 @@ def regex_replace(value='', pattern='', replacement='', ignorecase=False):
     return _re.sub(replacement, value)
 
 def unique(a):
-    return set(a)
+    try:
+        c = set(a)
+    except TypeError, e:
+        c = []
+        c = filter(lambda x: x not in c, a)
+    return c
 
 def intersect(a, b):
-    return set(a).intersection(b)
+    try:
+        c = set(a) & set(b)
+    except TypeError, e:
+        c = filter(lambda x: x in b, a)
+    return c
 
 def difference(a, b):
-    return set(a).difference(b)
+    try:
+        c = set(a) - set(b)
+    except TypeError, e:
+        c = filter(lambda x: x not in b, a)
+    return c
 
 def symmetric_difference(a, b):
-    return set(a).symmetric_difference(b)
+    try:
+        c = set(a) ^ set(b)
+    except TypeError, e:
+        c = filter(lambda x: x not in intersect(a,b), union(a,b))
+    return c
 
 def union(a, b):
-    return set(a).union(b)
+    try:
+        c = set(a) | set(b)
+    except TypeError, e:
+        c = a + b
+    return c
 
 def version_compare(value, version, operator='eq', strict=False):
     ''' Perform a version comparison on a value '''