diff --git a/bin/ansible-galaxy b/bin/ansible-galaxy
index 7593181c043..f981de1792c 100755
--- a/bin/ansible-galaxy
+++ b/bin/ansible-galaxy
@@ -37,6 +37,8 @@ from distutils.version import LooseVersion
 from jinja2 import Environment
 from optparse import OptionParser
 
+import ansible.constants as C
+
 default_meta_template = """---
 galaxy_info:
   author: {{ author }}
@@ -137,7 +139,7 @@ def build_option_parser(action):
     # options that apply to more than one action
     if action != "init":
         parser.add_option(
-            '-p', '--roles-path', dest='roles_path', default="/etc/ansible/roles",
+            '-p', '--roles-path', dest='roles_path', default=C.DEFAULT_ROLES_PATH,
             help='The path to the directory containing your roles.'
                  'The default is the roles_path configured in your '
                  'ansible.cfg file (/etc/ansible/roles if not configured)')
@@ -272,7 +274,7 @@ def get_role_path(role_name, options):
     Returns the role path based on the roles_path option
     and the role name.
     """
-    roles_path = get_opt(options,'roles_path','/etc/ansible/roles')
+    roles_path = get_opt(options,'roles_path')
     return os.path.join(roles_path, role_name)
 
 def get_role_metadata(role_name, options):
@@ -280,8 +282,8 @@ def get_role_metadata(role_name, options):
     Returns the metadata as YAML, if the file 'meta/main.yml'
     exists in the specified role_path
     """
+    role_path = os.path.join(get_role_path(role_name, options), 'meta/main.yml')
     try:
-        role_path = os.path.join(get_role_path(role_name, options), 'meta/main.yml')
         if os.path.isfile(role_path):
             f = open(role_path, 'r')
             meta_data = yaml.safe_load(f)
@@ -689,7 +691,7 @@ def execute_list(args, options):
             print "The role %s was not found" % role_name
     else:
         # show all valid roles in the roles_path directory
-        roles_path = get_opt(options, 'roles_path', '/etc/ansible/roles')
+        roles_path = get_opt(options, 'roles_path')
         if not os.path.exists(roles_path):
             print "The path %s does not exist. Please specify a valid path with --roles-path" % roles_path
             sys.exit(1)
diff --git a/lib/ansible/constants.py b/lib/ansible/constants.py
index ea1a23a59bc..0c43d1e879c 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/constants.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/constants.py
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ DEFAULTS='defaults'
 # configurable things
 DEFAULT_HOST_LIST         = shell_expand_path(get_config(p, DEFAULTS, 'hostfile', 'ANSIBLE_HOSTS', '/etc/ansible/hosts'))
 DEFAULT_MODULE_PATH       = get_config(p, DEFAULTS, 'library',          'ANSIBLE_LIBRARY',          DIST_MODULE_PATH)
-DEFAULT_ROLES_PATH        = get_config(p, DEFAULTS, 'roles_path',       'ANSIBLE_ROLES_PATH',       None)
+DEFAULT_ROLES_PATH        = get_config(p, DEFAULTS, 'roles_path',       'ANSIBLE_ROLES_PATH',       '/etc/ansible/roles')
 DEFAULT_REMOTE_TMP        = shell_expand_path(get_config(p, DEFAULTS, 'remote_tmp',       'ANSIBLE_REMOTE_TEMP',      '$HOME/.ansible/tmp'))
 DEFAULT_MODULE_NAME       = get_config(p, DEFAULTS, 'module_name',      None,                       'command')
 DEFAULT_PATTERN           = get_config(p, DEFAULTS, 'pattern',          None,                       '*')