diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 5aa07bb62ba..e88e88ae128 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ Misc changes:
 * added Jinja2 filters: skipped, whether a result was skipped
 * added Jinja2 filters: quote, quotes a string if it needs to be quoted
 * allow force=yes to affect apt upgrades
+* fix for saving conditionals in variable names
 
 1.2.2 "Hear About It Later" (reprise) -- July 4, 2013
 
diff --git a/lib/ansible/runner/__init__.py b/lib/ansible/runner/__init__.py
index 7dacfdcb24e..9b0860bd419 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/runner/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/runner/__init__.py
@@ -528,8 +528,7 @@ class Runner(object):
             self.conditional = [ self.conditional ]
 
         for cond in self.conditional:
-            cond = template.template(self.basedir, cond, inject, expand_lists=False)
-            if not utils.check_conditional(cond):
+            if not utils.check_conditional(cond, self.basedir, inject):
                 result = utils.jsonify(dict(changed=False, skipped=True))
                 self.callbacks.on_skipped(host, inject.get('item',None))
                 return ReturnData(host=host, result=result)
diff --git a/lib/ansible/runner/action_plugins/group_by.py b/lib/ansible/runner/action_plugins/group_by.py
index 7d2740116d9..093196e399b 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/runner/action_plugins/group_by.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/runner/action_plugins/group_by.py
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ class ActionModule(object):
             data = {}
             data.update(inject)
             data.update(inject['hostvars'][host])
-            if not check_conditional(template.template(self.runner.basedir, self.runner.conditional, data)):
+            if not check_conditional(self.runner.basedir, self.runner.conditional, data):
                 continue
             group_name = template.template(self.runner.basedir, args['key'], data)
             group_name = group_name.replace(' ','-')
diff --git a/lib/ansible/utils/__init__.py b/lib/ansible/utils/__init__.py
index a5046e12b2b..572e101cb18 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/utils/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/utils/__init__.py
@@ -155,7 +155,16 @@ def is_changed(result):
 
     return (result.get('changed', False) in [ True, 'True', 'true'])
 
-def check_conditional(conditional):
+def check_conditional(conditional, basedir, inject):
+
+    if conditional.startswith("jinja2_compare"):
+        conditional = conditional.replace("jinja2_compare ","")
+        # allow variable names
+        if conditional in inject:
+            conditional = inject[conditional]
+        conditional = template.template(basedir, conditional, inject)
+        # a Jinja2 evaluation that results in something Python can eval!
+        presented = "{% if " + conditional + " %} True {% else %} False {% endif %}"
 
     if not isinstance(conditional, basestring):
         return conditional
@@ -667,9 +676,7 @@ def compile_when_to_only_if(expression):
 
     # the stock 'when' without qualification (new in 1.2), assumes Jinja2 terms
     elif tokens[0] == 'jinja2_compare':
-        # a Jinja2 evaluation that results in something Python can eval!
-        presented = "{% if " + " ".join(tokens[1:]).strip() + " %} True {% else %} False {% endif %}"
-        return presented
+        return " ".join(tokens)
     else:
         raise errors.AnsibleError("invalid usage of when_ operator: %s" % expression)