diff --git a/lib/ansible/runner/lookup_plugins/pipe.py b/lib/ansible/runner/lookup_plugins/pipe.py
index 62ec7e129ed..0cd9e1cda5d 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/runner/lookup_plugins/pipe.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/runner/lookup_plugins/pipe.py
@@ -32,7 +32,18 @@ class LookupModule(object):
 
         ret = []
         for term in terms:
-            p = subprocess.Popen(term, cwd=self.basedir, shell=False, stdin=subprocess.PIPE, stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
+            '''
+            http://docs.python.org/2/library/subprocess.html#popen-constructor
+
+            The shell argument (which defaults to False) specifies whether to use the 
+            shell as the program to execute. If shell is True, it is recommended to pass 
+            args as a string rather than as a sequence
+
+            https://github.com/ansible/ansible/issues/6550
+            '''
+            term = str(term)
+
+            p = subprocess.Popen(term, cwd=self.basedir, shell=True, stdin=subprocess.PIPE, stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
             (stdout, stderr) = p.communicate()
             if p.returncode == 0:
                 ret.append(stdout.decode("utf-8").rstrip())