diff --git a/lib/ansible/runner/__init__.py b/lib/ansible/runner/__init__.py
index ea8cbc37a48..fd80d7833ed 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/runner/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/runner/__init__.py
@@ -870,10 +870,6 @@ class Runner(object):
         if type(module_args) == dict:
             new_args = []
             for (k, v) in module_args.iteritems():
-                # see if the value is OMIT_PLACE_HOLDER, if it is, skip it
-                arg_value = template.template(self.basedir, v, inject, fail_on_undefined=self.error_on_undefined_vars)
-                if arg_value.strip() == OMIT_PLACE_HOLDER:
-                    continue
                 new_args.append("%s='%s'" % (k, v))
             module_args = ' '.join(new_args)
 
@@ -897,6 +893,13 @@ class Runner(object):
         except jinja2.exceptions.UndefinedError, e:
             raise errors.AnsibleUndefinedVariable("One or more undefined variables: %s" % str(e))
 
+        # filter omitted arguments out
+        new_complex_args = {}
+        for key, value in complex_args.iteritems():
+            if value == OMIT_PLACE_HOLDER:
+                continue
+            new_complex_args[key] = value
+        complex_args = new_complex_args
 
         result = handler.run(conn, tmp, module_name, module_args, inject, complex_args)
         # Code for do until feature
diff --git a/lib/ansible/runner/filter_plugins/core.py b/lib/ansible/runner/filter_plugins/core.py
index 0b08582fb23..1096cf378ee 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/runner/filter_plugins/core.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/runner/filter_plugins/core.py
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ from ansible.utils import md5s, OMIT_PLACE_HOLDER
 from distutils.version import LooseVersion, StrictVersion
 from random import SystemRandom
 from jinja2.filters import environmentfilter
+from jinja2.runtime import Undefined
 
 
 def to_nice_yaml(*a, **kw):
@@ -237,13 +238,11 @@ def rand(environment, end, start=None, step=None):
     else:
         raise errors.AnsibleFilterError('random can only be used on sequences and integers')
 
+
 def default_omit(a):
-    try:
-        a
-    except NameError:
+    if isinstance(a, Undefined):
         return OMIT_PLACE_HOLDER
-    else:
-        return a
+    return a
 
 
 class FilterModule(object):