diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/packaging/os/apt.py b/lib/ansible/modules/packaging/os/apt.py
index 2e090660e63..05a3f8d8ff3 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/packaging/os/apt.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/packaging/os/apt.py
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ options:
       - 'If full, performs an aptitude full-upgrade.'
       - 'If dist, performs an apt-get dist-upgrade.'
       - 'Note: This does not upgrade a specific package, use state=latest for that.'
+      - 'Note: Since 2.4, apt-get is used as a fall-back if aptitude is not present.'
     version_added: "1.1"
     required: false
     default: "no"
@@ -126,14 +127,21 @@ options:
     required: false
     default: false
     version_added: "2.1"
+  force_apt_get:
+    description:
+      - Force usage of apt-get instead of aptitude
+    required: false
+    default: false
+    version_added: "2.4"
 requirements:
    - python-apt (python 2)
    - python3-apt (python 3)
-   - aptitude
+   - aptitude (before 2.4)
 author: "Matthew Williams (@mgwilliams)"
 notes:
-   - Three of the upgrade modes (C(full), C(safe) and its alias C(yes)) require C(aptitude), otherwise
-     C(apt-get) suffices.
+   - Three of the upgrade modes (C(full), C(safe) and its alias C(yes))
+     required C(aptitude) up to 2.3, since 2.4 C(apt-get) is used as a
+     fall-back.
 '''
 
 EXAMPLES = '''
@@ -711,6 +719,7 @@ def cleanup(m, purge=False, force=False, operation=None,
 
 
 def upgrade(m, mode="yes", force=False, default_release=None,
+            use_apt_get=False,
             dpkg_options=expand_dpkg_options(DPKG_OPTIONS)):
     if m.check_mode:
         check_arg = '--simulate'
@@ -719,19 +728,23 @@ def upgrade(m, mode="yes", force=False, default_release=None,
 
     apt_cmd = None
     prompt_regex = None
-    if mode == "dist":
+    if mode == "dist" or (mode == "full" and use_apt_get):
         # apt-get dist-upgrade
         apt_cmd = APT_GET_CMD
         upgrade_command = "dist-upgrade"
-    elif mode == "full":
+    elif mode == "full" and not use_apt_get:
         # aptitude full-upgrade
         apt_cmd = APTITUDE_CMD
         upgrade_command = "full-upgrade"
     else:
-        # aptitude safe-upgrade # mode=yes # default
-        apt_cmd = APTITUDE_CMD
-        upgrade_command = "safe-upgrade"
-        prompt_regex = r"(^Do you want to ignore this warning and proceed anyway\?|^\*\*\*.*\[default=.*\])"
+        if use_apt_get:
+            apt_cmd = APT_GET_CMD
+            upgrade_command = "upgrade --with-new-pkgs --autoremove"
+        else:
+            # aptitude safe-upgrade # mode=yes # default
+            apt_cmd = APTITUDE_CMD
+            upgrade_command = "safe-upgrade"
+            prompt_regex = r"(^Do you want to ignore this warning and proceed anyway\?|^\*\*\*.*\[default=.*\])"
 
     if force:
         if apt_cmd == APT_GET_CMD:
@@ -860,6 +873,7 @@ def main():
             autoremove=dict(type='bool', default='no'),
             autoclean=dict(type='bool', default='no'),
             only_upgrade=dict(type='bool', default=False),
+            force_apt_get=dict(type='bool', default=False),
             allow_unauthenticated=dict(default='no', aliases=['allow-unauthenticated'], type='bool'),
         ),
         mutually_exclusive=[['package', 'upgrade', 'deb']],
@@ -894,8 +908,11 @@ def main():
     if p['upgrade'] == 'no':
         p['upgrade'] = None
 
-    if not APTITUDE_CMD and p.get('upgrade', None) in ['full', 'safe', 'yes']:
-        module.fail_json(msg="Could not find aptitude. Please ensure it is installed.")
+    use_apt_get = p['force_apt_get']
+
+    if not use_apt_get and not APTITUDE_CMD and p.get('upgrade', None) in ['full', 'safe', 'yes']:
+        module.warn("Could not find aptitude. Using apt-get instead")
+        use_apt_get = True
 
     updated_cache = False
     updated_cache_time = 0
@@ -956,7 +973,7 @@ def main():
         force_yes = p['force']
 
         if p['upgrade']:
-            upgrade(module, p['upgrade'], force_yes, p['default_release'], dpkg_options)
+            upgrade(module, p['upgrade'], force_yes, p['default_release'], use_apt_get, dpkg_options)
 
         if p['deb']:
             if p['state'] != 'present':
@@ -976,7 +993,7 @@ def main():
         if latest and all_installed:
             if packages:
                 module.fail_json(msg='unable to install additional packages when ugrading all installed packages')
-            upgrade(module, 'yes', force_yes, p['default_release'], dpkg_options)
+            upgrade(module, 'yes', force_yes, p['default_release'], use_apt_get, dpkg_options)
 
         if packages:
             for package in packages:
diff --git a/test/integration/inventory b/test/integration/inventory
index 4929016b743..68f129c8af3 100644
--- a/test/integration/inventory
+++ b/test/integration/inventory
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ facthost[0:20] ansible_host=1270.0.0.1 ansible_connection=local
 [binary_modules]
 testhost_binary_modules ansible_host=127.0.0.1 ansible_connection=local
 
+[local_group]
+kube-pippin.knf.local
+
 # the following inline declarations are accompanied
 # by (preferred) group_vars/ and host_vars/ variables
 # and are used in testing of variable precedence
diff --git a/test/integration/targets/apt/tasks/main.yml b/test/integration/targets/apt/tasks/main.yml
index ea5679b7e44..8ca7d921b8c 100644
--- a/test/integration/targets/apt/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/test/integration/targets/apt/tasks/main.yml
@@ -24,20 +24,49 @@
  - include: 'apt-builddep.yml'
    when: ansible_distribution in ('Ubuntu', 'Debian')
 
- - name: Check if aptitude is installed
-   command: dpkg-query -l aptitude
-   register: deb_check
-   when: ansible_distribution in ('Ubuntu', 'Debian')
-
  - include: upgrade.yml upgrade_type=dist
    when: ansible_distribution in ('Ubuntu', 'Debian')
 
- - include: upgrade.yml upgrade_type=safe
-   when:
-     - ansible_distribution in ('Ubuntu', 'Debian')
-     - deb_check.stdout.find('no packages found') != -1
+ - name: Check if aptitude is installed
+   command: dpkg-query --show --showformat='${db:Status-Abbrev}' aptitude
+   register: aptitude_status
+   when: ansible_distribution in ('Ubuntu', 'Debian')
 
- - include: upgrade.yml upgrade_type=full
+ - debug: var=aptitude_status.stdout
+
+ - name: Remove aptitude, if installed, to test fall-back to apt-get
+   apt:
+     pkg: aptitude
+     state: absent
+   when:
+     - aptitude_status.stdout.find('ii') != -1
+
+ - include: "upgrade.yml aptitude_present={{ False | bool }} upgrade_type={{ item.upgrade_type }} force_apt_get={{ item.force_apt_get }}"
    when:
      - ansible_distribution in ('Ubuntu', 'Debian')
-     - deb_check.stdout.find('no packages found') != -1
+   with_items:
+     - { upgrade_type: safe, force_apt_get: False }
+     - { upgrade_type: full, force_apt_get: False }
+     - { upgrade_type: safe, force_apt_get: True }
+     - { upgrade_type: full, force_apt_get: True }
+
+ - name: (Re-)Install aptitude, run same tests again
+   apt:
+     pkg: aptitude
+     state: present
+
+ - include: upgrade.yml upgrade_type={{ item.upgrade_type }} force_apt_get={{ item.force_apt_get }}
+   when:
+     - ansible_distribution in ('Ubuntu', 'Debian')
+   with_items:
+     - { upgrade_type: safe, force_apt_get: False }
+     - { upgrade_type: full, force_apt_get: False }
+     - { upgrade_type: safe, force_apt_get: True }
+     - { upgrade_type: full, force_apt_get: True }
+
+ - name: Remove aptitude if not originally present
+   apt:
+     pkg: aptitude
+     state: absent
+   when:
+     - aptitude_status.stdout.find('ii') == -1
diff --git a/test/integration/targets/apt/tasks/upgrade.yml b/test/integration/targets/apt/tasks/upgrade.yml
index 8a630bb5568..1fec0cc79d7 100644
--- a/test/integration/targets/apt/tasks/upgrade.yml
+++ b/test/integration/targets/apt/tasks/upgrade.yml
@@ -14,14 +14,35 @@
     that:
       - "{{ hello_version.stdout }}=={{ hello_old_version }}"
 
-- name: "(upgrade type: {{upgrade_type}}) upgrade packages to latest version"
+- name: "(upgrade type: {{upgrade_type}}) upgrade packages to latest version, force_apt_get: {{force_apt_get|default(False)}}"
   apt:
     upgrade: "{{ upgrade_type }}"
+    force_apt_get: "{{ force_apt_get | default(False) }}"
+  register: upgrade_result
 
 - name: check hello version
   shell: dpkg -s hello | grep Version | awk '{print $2}'
   register: hello_version
 
+- debug: var=upgrade_result.warnings|default([])
+- debug: var=aptitude_present
+- debug: var=force_apt_get
+
+- name: check that warning is not given when force_apt_get set
+  assert:
+    that:
+      - "'Could not find aptitude. Using apt-get instead' not in upgrade_result.warnings | default([])"
+  when:
+    - force_apt_get | default(False)
+
+- name: check that warning is given when aptitude not found and force_apt_get not set
+  assert:
+    that:
+      - "'Could not find aptitude. Using apt-get instead' in upgrade_result.warnings"
+  when:
+    - not aptitude_present|default(True)
+    - not force_apt_get|default(False)
+
 - name: check that old version upgraded correctly
   assert:
     that:
@@ -31,12 +52,13 @@
 - name: "(upgrade type: {{upgrade_type}}) upgrade packages to latest version (Idempotant)"
   apt:
     upgrade: "{{ upgrade_type }}"
-  register: result
+    force_apt_get: "{{ force_apt_get | default(False) }}"
+  register: second_upgrade_result
 
 - name: check that nothing has changed (Idempotant)
   assert:
     that:
-      - "result.changed == false"
+      - "second_upgrade_result.changed == false"
 
 - name: remove hello
   apt: