diff --git a/lib/ansible/module_utils/basic.py b/lib/ansible/module_utils/basic.py
index d87f18cbd3b..f0275e86874 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/module_utils/basic.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/module_utils/basic.py
@@ -2022,6 +2022,8 @@ class AnsibleModule(object):
                         if not x.endswith('/ansible_modlib.zip') \
                         and not x.endswith('/debug_dir')]
             os.environ['PYTHONPATH'] = ':'.join(pypaths)
+            if not os.environ['PYTHONPATH']:
+                del os.environ['PYTHONPATH']
 
         # create a printable version of the command for use
         # in reporting later, which strips out things like