diff --git a/lib/ansible/plugins/action/synchronize.py b/lib/ansible/plugins/action/synchronize.py
index 077de34b0fa..527c72d423f 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/plugins/action/synchronize.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/plugins/action/synchronize.py
@@ -391,7 +391,7 @@ class ActionModule(ActionBase):
 
         # If launching synchronize against docker container
         # use rsync_opts to support container to override rsh options
-        if self._remote_transport in ['docker', 'buildah']:
+        if self._remote_transport in ['docker', 'buildah'] and not use_delegate:
             # Replicate what we do in the module argumentspec handling for lists
             if not isinstance(_tmp_args.get('rsync_opts'), MutableSequence):
                 tmp_rsync_opts = _tmp_args.get('rsync_opts', [])