diff --git a/lib/ansible/vars/unsafe_proxy.py b/lib/ansible/vars/unsafe_proxy.py
index 65bbf988948..a69bfb262dc 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/vars/unsafe_proxy.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/vars/unsafe_proxy.py
@@ -61,13 +61,22 @@ class UnsafeProxy(object):
     def __getattribute__(self, name):
         if name == '_obj':
             return object.__getattribute__(self, "_obj")
+        elif name == '__reduce_ex__':
+            return object.__getattribute__(self, "__reduce_ex__")
         elif name == '__UNSAFE__':
             return True
         else:
             return getattr(object.__getattribute__(self, "_obj"), name)
 
     def __eq__(self, obj):
+        '''
+        special handling for == due to the fact that int objects do
+        not define it, so trying to guess whether we should or should
+        not override object.__eq__ with the wrapped classes version
+        causes problems
+        '''
         return object.__getattribute__(self, "_obj") == obj
+
     def __delattr__(self, name):
         delattr(object.__getattribute__(self, "_obj"), name)
     def __setattr__(self, name, value):
@@ -76,12 +85,17 @@ class UnsafeProxy(object):
     def __nonzero__(self):
         return bool(object.__getattribute__(self, "_obj"))
     def __str__(self):
+        #import epdb; epdb.st()
         return str(object.__getattribute__(self, "_obj"))
     def __unicode__(self):
+        #import epdb; epdb.st()
         return unicode(object.__getattribute__(self, "_obj"))
     def __repr__(self):
         return repr(object.__getattribute__(self, "_obj"))
-    
+
+    def __reduce_ex__(self, protocol):
+        return (UnsafeProxy, (self._obj,))
+
     #
     # factories
     #
@@ -94,12 +108,11 @@ class UnsafeProxy(object):
         '__imul__', '__int__', '__invert__', '__ior__', '__ipow__', '__irshift__', 
         '__isub__', '__iter__', '__itruediv__', '__ixor__', '__le__', '__len__', 
         '__long__', '__lshift__', '__lt__', '__mod__', '__mul__', '__ne__', 
-        '__neg__', '__oct__', '__or__', '__pos__', '__pow__', '__radd__', 
-        '__rand__', '__rdiv__', '__rdivmod__', '__reduce__', '__reduce_ex__', 
-        '__repr__', '__reversed__', '__rfloordiv__', '__rlshift__', '__rmod__',
-        '__rmul__', '__ror__', '__rpow__', '__rrshift__', '__rshift__', '__rsub__', 
-        '__rtruediv__', '__rxor__', '__setitem__', '__setslice__', '__sub__', 
-        '__truediv__', '__xor__', 'next',
+        '__neg__', '__oct__', '__or__', '__pos__', '__pow__', '__radd__', '__rand__',
+        '__rdiv__', '__rdivmod__',  '__repr__', '__reversed__', '__rfloordiv__',
+        '__rlshift__', '__rmod__', '__rmul__', '__ror__', '__rpow__', '__rrshift__',
+        '__rshift__', '__rsub__', '__rtruediv__', '__rxor__', '__setitem__',
+        '__setslice__', '__sub__', '__truediv__', '__xor__', 'next',
     ]
     
     @classmethod