diff --git a/lib/ansible/parsing/dataloader.py b/lib/ansible/parsing/dataloader.py
index c54ba78f1fe..b295560c931 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/parsing/dataloader.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/parsing/dataloader.py
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ from __future__ import (absolute_import, division, print_function)
 __metaclass__ = type
 
 import copy
-import json
 import os
 import stat
 import subprocess
@@ -74,30 +73,24 @@ class DataLoader():
         a JSON or YAML string.
         '''
 
+        # YAML parser will take JSON as it is a subset.
+        if isinstance(data, AnsibleUnicode):
+            # The PyYAML's libyaml bindings use PyUnicode_CheckExact so
+            # they are unable to cope with our subclass.
+            # Unwrap and re-wrap the unicode so we can keep track of line
+            # numbers
+            in_data = text_type(data)
+        else:
+            in_data = data
         try:
-            # we first try to load this data as JSON
-            return json.loads(data)
-        except:
-            # if loading JSON failed for any reason, we go ahead
-            # and try to parse it as YAML instead
+            new_data = self._safe_load(in_data, file_name=file_name)
+        except YAMLError as yaml_exc:
+            self._handle_error(yaml_exc, file_name, show_content)
 
-            if isinstance(data, AnsibleUnicode):
-                # The PyYAML's libyaml bindings use PyUnicode_CheckExact so
-                # they are unable to cope with our subclass.
-                # Unwrap and re-wrap the unicode so we can keep track of line
-                # numbers
-                new_data = text_type(data)
-            else:
-                new_data = data
-            try:
-                new_data = self._safe_load(new_data, file_name=file_name)
-            except YAMLError as yaml_exc:
-                self._handle_error(yaml_exc, file_name, show_content)
-
-            if isinstance(data, AnsibleUnicode):
-                new_data = AnsibleUnicode(new_data)
-                new_data.ansible_pos = data.ansible_pos
-            return new_data
+        if isinstance(data, AnsibleUnicode):
+            new_data = AnsibleUnicode(new_data)
+            new_data.ansible_pos = data.ansible_pos
+        return new_data
 
     def load_from_file(self, file_name):
         ''' Loads data from a file, which can contain either JSON or YAML.  '''