diff --git a/lib/ansible/plugins/action/debug.py b/lib/ansible/plugins/action/debug.py
index 5a5a805e746..a024e28b01d 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/plugins/action/debug.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/plugins/action/debug.py
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ __metaclass__ = type
 
 from ansible.plugins.action import ActionBase
 from ansible.utils.boolean import boolean
-
+from ansible.utils.unicode import to_unicode
 
 class ActionModule(ActionBase):
     ''' Print statements during execution '''
@@ -41,9 +41,13 @@ class ActionModule(ActionBase):
         # FIXME: move the LOOKUP_REGEX somewhere else
         elif 'var' in self._task.args: # and not utils.LOOKUP_REGEX.search(self._task.args['var']):
             results = self._templar.template(self._task.args['var'], convert_bare=True)
-            if results == self._task.args['var']:
-                results = "VARIABLE IS NOT DEFINED!"
-            result[self._task.args['var']] = results
+            if type(self._task.args['var']) in (list, dict):
+                # If var is a list or dict, use the type as key to display
+                result[to_unicode(type(self._task.args['var']))] = results
+            else:
+                if results == self._task.args['var']:
+                    results = "VARIABLE IS NOT DEFINED!"
+                result[self._task.args['var']] = results
         else:
             result['msg'] = 'here we are'