diff --git a/lib/ansible/inventory/__init__.py b/lib/ansible/inventory/__init__.py
index 7c5248896a8..2de5634da1b 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/inventory/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/inventory/__init__.py
@@ -89,9 +89,10 @@ class Inventory(object):
              for host in group.get_hosts():
                  for pat in patterns:
                      if group.name == pat or pat == 'all' or self._match(host.name, pat):
-                         if not self._restriction:
+                         #must test explicitly for None because [] means no hosts allowed
+                         if self._restriction==None: 
                              hosts[host.name] = host
-                         if self._restriction and host.name in self._restriction:
+                         elif host.name in self._restriction:
                              hosts[host.name] = host
         return sorted(hosts.values(), key=lambda x: x.name)
 
diff --git a/lib/ansible/playbook/__init__.py b/lib/ansible/playbook/__init__.py
index ee20fdacfd2..4f24d0a9ad0 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/playbook/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/playbook/__init__.py
@@ -282,7 +282,6 @@ class PlayBook(object):
         # now with that data, handle contentional variable file imports!
         if play.vars_files and len(play.vars_files) > 0:
             rc = self._do_setup_step(play, play.vars_files)
-        #else: warn "You have a vars_files section but didn't state any vars files??
 
         # run all the top level tasks, these get run on every node
         for task in play.tasks():