diff --git a/bin/ansible-playbook b/bin/ansible-playbook
index 2064ee6ec66..13db4872dcf 100755
--- a/bin/ansible-playbook
+++ b/bin/ansible-playbook
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 
 import sys
 import getpass
+import os
 
 import ansible.playbook
 import ansible.constants as C
@@ -83,6 +84,12 @@ def main(args):
     extra_vars = utils.parse_kv(options.extra_vars)
     only_tags = options.tags.split(",")
 
+    for playbook in args:
+        if not os.path.exists(playbook):
+            raise errors.AnsibleError("the playbook: %s could not be found" % playbook)
+        if not os.path.isfile(playbook):
+            raise errors.AnsibleError("the playbook: %s does not appear to be a file" % playbook)
+
     # run all playbooks specified on the command line
     for playbook in args: