diff --git a/lib/ansible/runner/connection_plugins/fireball.py b/lib/ansible/runner/connection_plugins/fireball.py
index 45fd4f524eb..2f8531239bc 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/runner/connection_plugins/fireball.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/runner/connection_plugins/fireball.py
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ except ImportError:
 class Connection(object):
     ''' ZeroMQ accelerated connection '''
 
-    def __init__(self, runner, host, port, **kwargs):
+    def __init__(self, runner, host, port, *args, **kwargs):
 
         self.runner = runner
 
diff --git a/lib/ansible/runner/connection_plugins/local.py b/lib/ansible/runner/connection_plugins/local.py
index dd044f2fffa..c7c933c88c1 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/runner/connection_plugins/local.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/runner/connection_plugins/local.py
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ from ansible.callbacks import vvv
 class Connection(object):
     ''' Local based connections '''
 
-    def __init__(self, runner, host, port, **kwargs):
+    def __init__(self, runner, host, port, *args, **kwargs):
         self.runner = runner
         self.host = host
         # port is unused, since this is local
diff --git a/lib/ansible/runner/connection_plugins/paramiko_ssh.py b/lib/ansible/runner/connection_plugins/paramiko_ssh.py
index 13e3847afa3..c8e62ee4805 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/runner/connection_plugins/paramiko_ssh.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/runner/connection_plugins/paramiko_ssh.py
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ SFTP_CONNECTION_CACHE = {}
 class Connection(object):
     ''' SSH based connections with Paramiko '''
 
-    def __init__(self, runner, host, port, user, password, private_key_file):
+    def __init__(self, runner, host, port, user, password, private_key_file, *args, **kwargs):
 
         self.ssh = None
         self.sftp = None
diff --git a/lib/ansible/runner/connection_plugins/ssh.py b/lib/ansible/runner/connection_plugins/ssh.py
index 3a1bc1005c2..39f0c677e0d 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/runner/connection_plugins/ssh.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/runner/connection_plugins/ssh.py
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ from ansible import utils
 class Connection(object):
     ''' ssh based connections '''
 
-    def __init__(self, runner, host, port, user, password, private_key_file):
+    def __init__(self, runner, host, port, user, password, private_key_file, *args, **kwargs):
         self.runner = runner
         self.host = host
         self.port = port