diff --git a/lib/ansible/plugins/connections/chroot.py b/lib/ansible/plugins/connections/chroot.py
index f7b2cb962c2..7cc1afa718b 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/plugins/connections/chroot.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/plugins/connections/chroot.py
@@ -22,9 +22,11 @@ __metaclass__ = type
 import distutils.spawn
 import traceback
 import os
+import shlex
 import subprocess
 from ansible import errors
 from ansible import utils
+from ansible.utils.unicode import to_bytes
 from ansible.callbacks import vvv
 import ansible.constants as C
 
@@ -70,7 +72,11 @@ class Connection(object):
         if executable:
             local_cmd = [self.chroot_cmd, self.chroot, executable, '-c', cmd]
         else:
-            local_cmd = '%s "%s" %s' % (self.chroot_cmd, self.chroot, cmd)
+            # Prev to python2.7.3, shlex couldn't handle unicode type strings
+            cmd = to_bytes(cmd)
+            cmd = shlex.split(cmd)
+            local_cmd = [self.chroot_cmd, self.chroot]
+            local_cmd += cmd
         return local_cmd
 
     def _buffered_exec_command(self, cmd, tmp_path, become_user=None, sudoable=False, executable='/bin/sh', in_data=None, stdin=subprocess.PIPE):
@@ -88,11 +94,11 @@ class Connection(object):
         if in_data:
             raise errors.AnsibleError("Internal Error: this module does not support optimized module pipelining")
 
-        # We enter chroot as root so we ignore privlege escalation?
+        # We enter zone as root so we ignore privilege escalation (probably need to fix in case we have to become a specific used [ex: postgres admin])?
         local_cmd = self._generate_cmd(executable, cmd)
 
         vvv("EXEC %s" % (local_cmd), host=self.chroot)
-        p = subprocess.Popen(local_cmd, shell=isinstance(local_cmd, basestring),
+        p = subprocess.Popen(local_cmd, shell=False,
                              cwd=self.runner.basedir,
                              stdin=stdin,
                              stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
@@ -136,7 +142,7 @@ class Connection(object):
         try:
             p = self._buffered_exec_command('dd if=%s bs=%s' % (in_path, BUFSIZE), None)
         except OSError:
-            raise errors.AnsibleError("chroot connection requires dd command in the jail")
+            raise errors.AnsibleError("chroot connection requires dd command in the chroot")
 
         with open(out_path, 'wb+') as out_file:
             try:
diff --git a/lib/ansible/plugins/connections/jail.py b/lib/ansible/plugins/connections/jail.py
index 480a8441515..1e1f5b9307e 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/plugins/connections/jail.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/plugins/connections/jail.py
@@ -23,8 +23,10 @@ __metaclass__ = type
 import distutils.spawn
 import traceback
 import os
+import shlex
 import subprocess
 from ansible import errors
+from ansible.utils.unicode import to_bytes
 from ansible.callbacks import vvv
 import ansible.constants as C
 
@@ -92,7 +94,11 @@ class Connection(object):
         if executable:
             local_cmd = [self.jexec_cmd, self.jail, executable, '-c', cmd]
         else:
-            local_cmd = '%s "%s" %s' % (self.jexec_cmd, self.jail, cmd)
+            # Prev to python2.7.3, shlex couldn't handle unicode type strings
+            cmd = to_bytes(cmd)
+            cmd = shlex.split(cmd)
+            local_cmd = [self.jexec_cmd, self.jail]
+            local_cmd += cmd
         return local_cmd
 
     def _buffered_exec_command(self, cmd, tmp_path, become_user=None, sudoable=False, executable='/bin/sh', in_data=None, stdin=subprocess.PIPE):
@@ -110,11 +116,11 @@ class Connection(object):
         if in_data:
             raise errors.AnsibleError("Internal Error: this module does not support optimized module pipelining")
 
-        # Ignores privilege escalation
+        # We enter zone as root so we ignore privilege escalation (probably need to fix in case we have to become a specific used [ex: postgres admin])?
         local_cmd = self._generate_cmd(executable, cmd)
 
         vvv("EXEC %s" % (local_cmd), host=self.jail)
-        p = subprocess.Popen(local_cmd, shell=isinstance(local_cmd, basestring),
+        p = subprocess.Popen(local_cmd, shell=False,
                              cwd=self.runner.basedir,
                              stdin=stdin,
                              stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
diff --git a/lib/ansible/plugins/connections/zone.py b/lib/ansible/plugins/connections/zone.py
index e4dfedc9e4b..019cfb9a91c 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/plugins/connections/zone.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/plugins/connections/zone.py
@@ -24,8 +24,10 @@ __metaclass__ = type
 import distutils.spawn
 import traceback
 import os
+import shlex
 import subprocess
 from ansible import errors
+from ansible.utils.unicode import to_bytes
 from ansible.callbacks import vvv
 import ansible.constants as C
 
@@ -101,7 +103,11 @@ class Connection(object):
             ### TODO: Why was "-c" removed from here? (vs jail.py)
             local_cmd = [self.zlogin_cmd, self.zone, executable, cmd]
         else:
-            local_cmd = '%s "%s" %s' % (self.zlogin_cmd, self.zone, cmd)
+            # Prev to python2.7.3, shlex couldn't handle unicode type strings
+            cmd = to_bytes(cmd)
+            cmd = shlex.split(cmd)
+            local_cmd = [self.zlogin_cmd, self.zone]
+            local_cmd += cmd
         return local_cmd
 
     def _buffered_exec_command(self, cmd, tmp_path, become_user=None, sudoable=False, executable=None, in_data=None, stdin=subprocess.PIPE):
@@ -119,11 +125,11 @@ class Connection(object):
         if in_data:
             raise errors.AnsibleError("Internal Error: this module does not support optimized module pipelining")
 
-        # We happily ignore privilege escalation
+        # We enter zone as root so we ignore privilege escalation (probably need to fix in case we have to become a specific used [ex: postgres admin])?
         local_cmd = self._generate_cmd(executable, cmd)
 
         vvv("EXEC %s" % (local_cmd), host=self.zone)
-        p = subprocess.Popen(local_cmd, shell=isinstance(local_cmd, basestring),
+        p = subprocess.Popen(local_cmd, shell=False,
                              cwd=self.runner.basedir,
                              stdin=stdin,
                              stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE)