diff --git a/lib/ansible/playbook/__init__.py b/lib/ansible/playbook/__init__.py
index 019d36e91ff..e5fee92ec9d 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/playbook/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/playbook/__init__.py
@@ -239,10 +239,17 @@ class PlayBook(object):
 
     # *****************************************************
 
+    def _list_available_hosts(self):
+        ''' returns a list of hosts that haven't failed and aren't dark '''
+
+        return [ h for h in self.inventory.list_hosts() if (h not in self.stats.failures) and (h not in self.stats.dark)]
+
+    # *****************************************************
+
     def _run_task_internal(self, task):
         ''' run a particular module step in a playbook '''
 
-        hosts = [ h for h in self.inventory.list_hosts() if (h not in self.stats.failures) and (h not in self.stats.dark)]
+        hosts = self._list_available_hosts()
         self.inventory.restrict_to(hosts)
 
         runner = ansible.runner.Runner(
@@ -340,8 +347,7 @@ class PlayBook(object):
     def _do_setup_step(self, play):
         ''' get facts from the remote system '''
 
-        host_list = [ h for h in self.inventory.list_hosts(play.hosts)
-            if not (h in self.stats.failures or h in self.stats.dark) ]
+        host_list = self._list_available_hosts()
 
         if play.gather_facts is False:
             return {}
@@ -390,8 +396,7 @@ class PlayBook(object):
 
         # now with that data, handle contentional variable file imports!
 
-        all_hosts = [ h for h in self.inventory.list_hosts(play.hosts)
-                    if not (h in self.stats.failures or h in self.stats.dark) ]
+        all_hosts = self._list_available_hosts()
         play.update_vars_files(all_hosts)
 
         serialized_batch = []
@@ -426,8 +431,7 @@ class PlayBook(object):
                         # just didn't match anything and that's ok
                         return False
 
-                host_list = [ h for h in self.inventory.list_hosts(play.hosts)
-                    if not (h in self.stats.failures or h in self.stats.dark) ]
+                host_list = self._list_available_hosts()
 
                 # if no hosts remain, drop out
                 if not host_list: