diff --git a/lib/ansible/cli/doc.py b/lib/ansible/cli/doc.py
index e7bc8485904..733dec68350 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/cli/doc.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/cli/doc.py
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ from ansible.module_utils.six import string_types
 from ansible.parsing.yaml.dumper import AnsibleDumper
 from ansible.plugins.loader import module_loader, action_loader, lookup_loader, callback_loader, cache_loader, \
     vars_loader, connection_loader, strategy_loader, inventory_loader, shell_loader, fragment_loader
-from ansible.utils.plugin_docs import BLACKLIST, get_docstring
+from ansible.utils.plugin_docs import BLACKLIST, get_docstring, get_docstub
 
 try:
     from __main__ import display
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ class DocCLI(CLI):
             for path in paths:
                 self.plugin_list.update(self.find_plugins(path, plugin_type))
 
-            self.pager(self.get_plugin_list_text(loader))
+            self.pager(self.get_plugin_list_text(loader, doc_getter=get_docstub))
             return 0
 
         # process all plugins of type
@@ -304,7 +304,7 @@ class DocCLI(CLI):
 
         return plugin_list
 
-    def get_plugin_list_text(self, loader):
+    def get_plugin_list_text(self, loader, doc_getter=get_docstring):
         columns = display.columns
         displace = max(len(x) for x in self.plugin_list)
         linelimit = columns - displace - 5
@@ -325,7 +325,7 @@ class DocCLI(CLI):
 
                 doc = None
                 try:
-                    doc, plainexamples, returndocs, metadata = get_docstring(filename, fragment_loader)
+                    doc, plainexamples, returndocs, metadata = doc_getter(filename, fragment_loader)
                 except Exception:
                     display.warning("%s has a documentation formatting error" % plugin)
 
diff --git a/lib/ansible/parsing/plugin_docs.py b/lib/ansible/parsing/plugin_docs.py
index 797e87f4402..eb77d3fa42b 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/parsing/plugin_docs.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/parsing/plugin_docs.py
@@ -80,3 +80,43 @@ def read_docstring(filename, verbose=True, ignore_errors=True):
             raise
 
     return data
+
+
+def read_docstub(filename, verbose=True, ignore_errors=True):
+    """
+    Quickly find short_description using string methods instead of node parsing.
+    This does not return a full set of documentation strings and is intended for
+    operations like ansible-doc -l.
+    """
+
+    data = {
+        'doc': None,
+        'plainexamples': None,
+        'returndocs': None,
+        'metadata': None
+    }
+
+    try:
+        t_module_data = open(filename, 'r')
+        capturing = False
+        doc_stub = []
+
+        for line in t_module_data:
+            # start capturing the stub until indentation returns
+            if capturing and line[0] == ' ':
+                doc_stub.append(line)
+            elif capturing and line[0] != ' ':
+                break
+            if 'short_description:' in line:
+                capturing = True
+                doc_stub.append(line)
+
+        data['doc'] = AnsibleLoader(r"".join(doc_stub), file_name=filename).get_single_data()
+
+    except:
+        if verbose:
+            display.error("unable to parse %s" % filename)
+        if not ignore_errors:
+            raise
+
+    return data
diff --git a/lib/ansible/utils/plugin_docs.py b/lib/ansible/utils/plugin_docs.py
index 206442a52da..475ebc88ad2 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/utils/plugin_docs.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/utils/plugin_docs.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ from collections import MutableMapping, MutableSet, MutableSequence
 from ansible.errors import AnsibleError, AnsibleAssertionError
 from ansible.module_utils.six import string_types
 from ansible.module_utils._text import to_native
-from ansible.parsing.plugin_docs import read_docstring
+from ansible.parsing.plugin_docs import read_docstring, read_docstub
 from ansible.parsing.yaml.loader import AnsibleLoader
 
 try:
@@ -120,3 +120,16 @@ def get_docstring(filename, fragment_loader, verbose=False, ignore_errors=False)
         add_fragments(data['doc'], filename, fragment_loader=fragment_loader)
 
     return data['doc'], data['plainexamples'], data['returndocs'], data['metadata']
+
+
+def get_docstub(filename, fragment_loader, verbose=False, ignore_errors=False):
+    """
+    When only short_description is needed, load a stub of the full DOCUMENTATION string to speed up operation.
+    """
+
+    data = read_docstub(filename, verbose=verbose, ignore_errors=ignore_errors)
+
+    if data.get('doc', False):
+        add_fragments(data['doc'], filename, fragment_loader=fragment_loader)
+
+    return data['doc'], data['plainexamples'], data['returndocs'], data['metadata']