diff --git a/lib/ansible/plugins/action/__init__.py b/lib/ansible/plugins/action/__init__.py
index a08e113a057..0c6a5c31a45 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/plugins/action/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/plugins/action/__init__.py
@@ -359,14 +359,16 @@ class ActionBase(with_metaclass(ABCMeta, object)):
             # Try to use file system acls to make the files readable for sudo'd
             # user
             if execute:
-                mode = 'r-x'
+                chmod_mode = 'rx'
+                setfacl_mode = 'r-x'
             else:
+                chmod_mode = 'rX'
                 ### Note: this form fails silently on freebsd.  We currently
                 # never call _fixup_perms2() with execute=False but if we
                 # start to we'll have to fix this.
-                mode = 'r-X'
+                setfacl_mode = 'r-X'
 
-            res = self._remote_set_user_facl(remote_paths, self._play_context.become_user, mode)
+            res = self._remote_set_user_facl(remote_paths, self._play_context.become_user, setfacl_mode)
             if res['rc'] != 0:
                 # File system acls failed; let's try to use chown next
                 # Set executable bit first as on some systems an
@@ -388,7 +390,7 @@ class ActionBase(with_metaclass(ABCMeta, object)):
                         display.warning('Using world-readable permissions for temporary files Ansible needs to create when becoming an unprivileged user.'
                                 ' This may be insecure. For information on securing this, see'
                                 ' https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/become.html#becoming-an-unprivileged-user')
-                        res = self._remote_chmod(remote_paths, 'a+%s' % mode)
+                        res = self._remote_chmod(remote_paths, 'a+%s' % chmod_mode)
                         if res['rc'] != 0:
                             raise AnsibleError('Failed to set file mode on remote files (rc: {0}, err: {1})'.format(res['rc'], to_native(res['stderr'])))
                     else: