diff --git a/lib/ansible/playbook/play.py b/lib/ansible/playbook/play.py
index bc033148646..00598088468 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/playbook/play.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/playbook/play.py
@@ -105,6 +105,8 @@ class Play(Base, Taggable, Become):
 
     @staticmethod
     def load(data, variable_manager=None, loader=None):
+        if ('name' not in data or data['name'] is None) and 'hosts' in data:
+            data['name'] = data['hosts']
         p = Play()
         return p.load_data(data, variable_manager=variable_manager, loader=loader)