diff --git a/lib/ansible/plugins/connection/ssh.py b/lib/ansible/plugins/connection/ssh.py
index 12bdaf59e3b..2ddb5ffe956 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/plugins/connection/ssh.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/plugins/connection/ssh.py
@@ -894,9 +894,9 @@ class Connection(ConnectionBase):
         cmd = map(to_bytes, self._build_command(self._play_context.ssh_executable, '-O', 'stop', self.host))
         controlpersist, controlpath = self._persistence_controls(cmd)
         if controlpersist:
+            display.vvv(u'sending stop: %s' % cmd)
             p = subprocess.Popen(cmd, stdin=subprocess.PIPE, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
             stdout, stderr = p.communicate()
-            display.vvv(u'sending stop: %s' % cmd)
 
         self.close()