diff --git a/lib/ansible/playbook/play.py b/lib/ansible/playbook/play.py
index 608691c7129..f414ec55536 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/playbook/play.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/playbook/play.py
@@ -101,6 +101,10 @@ class Play(object):
         ''' handle task and handler include statements '''
 
         results = []
+        if tasks is None:
+            # support empty handler files, and the like.
+            tasks = []
+
         for x in tasks:
             task_vars = self.vars.copy()
             task_vars.update(vars)