diff --git a/examples/ansible.cfg b/examples/ansible.cfg
index a07f7149c18..c309fc41c9d 100644
--- a/examples/ansible.cfg
+++ b/examples/ansible.cfg
@@ -66,3 +66,16 @@ remote_port=22
 
 #private_key_file=/path/to/file
 
+[paramiko_connection]
+
+# nothing to configure yet
+
+[ssh_connection]
+
+# if uncommented, sets the ansible ssh arguments to the following.  Leaving off ControlPersist
+# will result in poor performance, so use transport=paramiko on older platforms rather than
+# removing it
+
+ssh_args=-o ControlMaster=auto -o ControlPersist=60s -o ControlPath=/tmp/ansible-ssh-%h-%p-%r
+
+
diff --git a/lib/ansible/constants.py b/lib/ansible/constants.py
index 17c498258b1..7c6195d8964 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/constants.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/constants.py
@@ -82,3 +82,4 @@ DEFAULT_TRANSPORT_OPTS    = ['local', 'paramiko', 'ssh']
 DEFAULT_SUDO_PASS         = None
 DEFAULT_SUBSET            = None
 
+ANSIBLE_SSH_ARGS          = get_config(p, 'ssh_connection', 'ssh_args', 'ANSIBLE_SSH_ARGS', None)
diff --git a/lib/ansible/runner/connection/ssh.py b/lib/ansible/runner/connection/ssh.py
index a813611ca6e..85dce9d8eac 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/runner/connection/ssh.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/runner/connection/ssh.py
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import pipes
 import random
 import select
 import fcntl
+import ansible.constants as C
 from ansible.callbacks import vvv
 from ansible import errors
 
@@ -40,7 +41,7 @@ class SSHConnection(object):
         vvv("ESTABLISH CONNECTION FOR USER: %s" % self.runner.remote_user, host=self.host)
 
         self.common_args = []
-        extra_args = os.getenv("ANSIBLE_SSH_ARGS", None)
+        extra_args = C.ANSIBLE_SSH_ARGS
         if extra_args is not None:
             self.common_args += shlex.split(extra_args)
         else:
@@ -108,7 +109,7 @@ class SSHConnection(object):
         p.stdin.close()  # close stdin after we read from stdout (see also issue #848)
 
         if p.returncode != 0 and stdout.find('Bad configuration option: ControlPersist') != -1:
-            raise errors.AnsibleError('using -c ssh on certain older ssh versions may not support ControlPersist, set ANSIBLE_SSH_ARGS="" before running again')
+            raise errors.AnsibleError('using -c ssh on certain older ssh versions may not support ControlPersist, set ANSIBLE_SSH_ARGS="" (or ssh_args in the config file) before running again')
 
         return ('', stdout, '')