diff --git a/debug b/debug
index b36668eba84..acd7efd2c53 100644
--- a/debug
+++ b/debug
@@ -37,11 +37,6 @@ options:
         message.
     required: false
     default: "Hello world!"
-  rc:
-    description:
-      - The return code of the module. If fail=yes, this will default to 1.
-    required: false
-    default: 0
   fail:
     description:
       - A boolean that indicates whether the debug module should fail or not.
@@ -49,37 +44,11 @@ options:
     default: "no"
 examples:
     - code: |
-        - local_action: debug msg="System $inventory_hostname has uuid $ansible_product_uuid"
-        - local_action: debug msg="System $inventory_hostname lacks a gateway" fail=yes
+        - action: debug msg="System $inventory_hostname has uuid $ansible_product_uuid"
+        - action: debug msg="System $inventory_hostname lacks a gateway" fail=yes
           only_if: "is_unset('${ansible_default_ipv4.gateway}')"
-        - local_action: debug msg="System $inventory_hostname has gateway ${ansible_default_ipv4.gateway}"
+        - action: debug msg="System $inventory_hostname has gateway ${ansible_default_ipv4.gateway}"
           only_if: "is_set('${ansible_default_ipv4.gateway}')"
       description: "Example that prints the loopback address and gateway for each host"
 author: Dag Wieers
 '''
-
-def main():
-
-    module = AnsibleModule(
-        argument_spec = dict(
-            fail = dict(default='no', choices=BOOLEANS),
-            msg = dict(default='Hello world!'),
-            rc = dict(default=0),
-        )
-    )
-
-    fail = module.boolean(module.params.get('fail'))
-    msg = module.params.get('msg')
-    rc = module.params.get('rc')
-
-    if fail and rc == 0:
-        rc = 1
-
-    if fail:
-        module.fail_json(rc=rc, msg=msg)
-    else:
-        module.exit_json(msg=msg)
-
-# this is magic, see lib/ansible/module_common.py
-#<<INCLUDE_ANSIBLE_MODULE_COMMON>>
-main()
diff --git a/fail b/fail
index 0a81aa02cd7..c6fbe603a54 100644
--- a/fail
+++ b/fail
@@ -32,34 +32,13 @@ options:
       - The customized message used for failing execution. If ommited,
         fail will simple bail out with a generic message.
     required: false
-    default: "'Failed because only_if condition is true'"
-  rc:
-    description:
-      - The return code of the failure. This is currently not used by
-        Ansible, but might be used in the future.
-    required: false
-    default: 1
+    default: "'Failed as requested from task'"
 examples:
     - code: |
-        fail: msg="The system may not be provisioned according to the CMDB status." rc=100
+        fail: msg="The system may not be provisioned according to the CMDB status."
             only_if: "'$cmdb_status' != 'to-be-staged'"
 
       description: "Example playbook using fail and only_if together"
 
 author: Dag Wieers
 '''
-
-def main():
-
-    module = AnsibleModule(
-        argument_spec = dict(
-            msg = dict(default='Failed because only_if condition is true'),
-            rc = dict(default=1),
-        )
-    )
-
-    module.fail_json(rc=module.params['rc'], msg=module.params['msg'])
-
-# this is magic, see lib/ansible/module_common.py
-#<<INCLUDE_ANSIBLE_MODULE_COMMON>>
-main()