diff --git a/lib/ansible/plugins/inventory/vultr.py b/lib/ansible/plugins/inventory/vultr.py
index e5339e867e1..2961ba95a2d 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/plugins/inventory/vultr.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/plugins/inventory/vultr.py
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ DOCUMENTATION = r'''
             env:
               - name: VULTR_API_KEY
         hostname:
-            description: Field to match the hostname
+            description: Field to match the hostname. Note v4_main_ip corresponds to the main_ip field returned from the API and name to label.
             type: string
             default: v4_main_ip
             choices:
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ from ansible.plugins.inventory import BaseInventoryPlugin
 from ansible.module_utils.six.moves import configparser
 from ansible.module_utils.urls import open_url
 from ansible.module_utils._text import to_native
-from ansible.module_utils.vultr import Vultr, VULTR_USER_AGENT
+from ansible.module_utils.vultr import Vultr, VULTR_API_ENDPOINT, VULTR_USER_AGENT
 
 
 SCHEMA = {
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ def _load_conf(path, account):
 
 
 def _retrieve_servers(api_key):
-    api_url = 'https://api.vultr.com/v1/server/list'
+    api_url = '%s/v1/server/list' % VULTR_API_ENDPOINT
 
     try:
         response = open_url(
@@ -113,11 +113,9 @@ def _retrieve_servers(api_key):
             http_agent=VULTR_USER_AGENT,
         )
         servers_list = json.loads(response.read())
-        if not servers_list:
-            return []
 
-        return [server for id, server in servers_list.items()]
-    except ValueError as e:
+        return servers_list.values() if servers_list else []
+    except ValueError:
         raise AnsibleError("Incorrect JSON payload")
     except Exception as e:
         raise AnsibleError("Error while fetching %s: %s" % (api_url, to_native(e)))
@@ -130,16 +128,13 @@ class InventoryModule(BaseInventoryPlugin):
         super(InventoryModule, self).parse(inventory, loader, path)
         self._read_config_data(path=path)
 
-        api_account = self.get_option('api_account') or 'default'
-        conf = _load_conf(self.get_option('api_config'), api_account)
-
+        conf = _load_conf(self.get_option('api_config'), self.get_option('api_account'))
         try:
             api_key = self.get_option('api_key') or conf.get('key')
-        except Exception as e:
-            raise AnsibleError('Could not find an API key. Check the configuration files.')
-
-        hostname_preference = self.get_option('hostname') or 'v4_main_ip'
+        except Exception:
+            raise AnsibleError('Could not find an API key. Check inventory file and Vultr configuration files.')
 
+        hostname_preference = self.get_option('hostname')
         for server in _retrieve_servers(api_key):
             server = Vultr.normalize_result(server, SCHEMA)
             for group in ['region', 'os']:
@@ -148,4 +143,6 @@ class InventoryModule(BaseInventoryPlugin):
 
             for attribute, value in server.items():
                 self.inventory.set_variable(server['name'], attribute, value)
-            self.inventory.set_variable(server['name'], 'ansible_host', server[hostname_preference])
+
+            if hostname_preference != 'name':
+                self.inventory.set_variable(server['name'], 'ansible_host', server[hostname_preference])