diff --git a/docs/man/man1/ansible-playbook.1 b/docs/man/man1/ansible-playbook.1
index df0a28f7436..5fb260bb0cd 100644
--- a/docs/man/man1/ansible-playbook.1
+++ b/docs/man/man1/ansible-playbook.1
@@ -77,11 +77,6 @@ Connection timeout to use when trying to talk to hosts, in
 \fISECONDS\fR\&.
 .RE
 .PP
-\fB\-e\fR \fIEXTRA_VARS\fR, \fB\-\-extra_vars=\fR\fIEXTRA_VARS\fR
-.RS 4
-An additional list of space delimited key=value pairs to pass into the playbook that are not declared in the vars section of the playbook\&.
-.RE
-.PP
 \fB\-O\fR \fIOVERRIDE_HOSTS\fR, \fB\-\-override\-hosts=\fR\fIOVERRIDE_HOSTS\fR
 .RS 4
 Ignore the inventory file and run the playbook against only these hosts\&. "hosts:" line in playbook should be set to
diff --git a/docs/man/man1/ansible-playbook.1.asciidoc b/docs/man/man1/ansible-playbook.1.asciidoc
index ce43e87f552..14d34710e71 100644
--- a/docs/man/man1/ansible-playbook.1.asciidoc
+++ b/docs/man/man1/ansible-playbook.1.asciidoc
@@ -69,12 +69,6 @@ Prompt for the password to use for playbook plays that request sudo access, if a
 Connection timeout to use when trying to talk to hosts, in 'SECONDS'.
 
 
-*-e* 'EXTRA_VARS', *--extra_vars=*'EXTRA_VARS'::
-
-An additional list of space delimited key=value pairs to pass into the playbook that are not
-declared in the vars section of the playbook.
-
-
 *-O* 'OVERRIDE_HOSTS', *--override-hosts=*'OVERRIDE_HOSTS'::
 
 Ignore the inventory file and run the playbook against only these hosts.  "hosts:" line
diff --git a/lib/ansible/inventory.py b/lib/ansible/inventory.py
index 05f8001fb12..e98cd3309fa 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/inventory.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/inventory.py
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ class Inventory(object):
     systems, or a script that will be called with --list or --host.
     """
 
-    def __init__(self, host_list=C.DEFAULT_HOST_LIST, extra_vars=None):
+    def __init__(self, host_list=C.DEFAULT_HOST_LIST):
 
         self._restriction = None
         self._variables = {}
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ class Inventory(object):
         self.inventory_file = os.path.abspath(inventory_file)
 
         if os.access(self.inventory_file, os.X_OK):
-            self.host_list, self.groups = self._parse_from_script(extra_vars)
+            self.host_list, self.groups = self._parse_from_script()
             self._is_script = True
         else:
             self.host_list, self.groups = self._parse_from_file()
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ class Inventory(object):
         """ Do not restrict list operations """
         self._restriction = None
 
-    def get_variables(self, host, extra_vars=None):
+    def get_variables(self, host):
         """ Return the variables associated with this host. """
 
         if host in self._variables:
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ class Inventory(object):
         if not self._is_script:
             return {}
 
-        return self._get_variables_from_script(host, extra_vars)
+        return self._get_variables_from_script(host)
 
     # *****************************************************
 
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ class Inventory(object):
 
     # *****************************************************
 
-    def _parse_from_script(self, extra_vars=None):
+    def _parse_from_script(self):
         ''' evaluate a script that returns list of hosts by groups '''
 
         results = []
@@ -134,9 +134,6 @@ class Inventory(object):
 
         cmd = [self.inventory_file, '--list']
 
-        if extra_vars:
-            cmd.extend(['--extra-vars', extra_vars])
-
         cmd = subprocess.Popen(cmd, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE, shell=False)
         out, err = cmd.communicate()
         rc = cmd.returncode
@@ -241,14 +238,11 @@ class Inventory(object):
             raise AnsibleError("Unknown item in inventory: %s"%(item))
 
 
-    def _get_variables_from_script(self, host, extra_vars=None):
+    def _get_variables_from_script(self, host):
         ''' support per system variabes from external variable scripts, see web docs '''
 
         cmd = [self.inventory_file, '--host', host]
 
-        if extra_vars:
-            cmd.extend(['--extra-vars', extra_vars])
-
         cmd = subprocess.Popen(cmd,
             stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
             stderr=subprocess.PIPE,
diff --git a/lib/ansible/playbook.py b/lib/ansible/playbook.py
index 4df28389f03..781e598b08e 100755
--- a/lib/ansible/playbook.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/playbook.py
@@ -59,7 +59,6 @@ class PlayBook(object):
         remote_port      = C.DEFAULT_REMOTE_PORT,
         transport        = C.DEFAULT_TRANSPORT,
         override_hosts   = None,
-        extra_vars       = None,
         debug            = False,
         verbose          = False,
         callbacks        = None,
@@ -82,7 +81,6 @@ class PlayBook(object):
         self.callbacks        = callbacks
         self.runner_callbacks = runner_callbacks
         self.override_hosts   = override_hosts
-        self.extra_vars       = extra_vars
         self.stats            = stats
         self.sudo             = sudo
         self.sudo_pass        = sudo_pass
@@ -323,7 +321,7 @@ class PlayBook(object):
             remote_port=port, module_vars=vars,
             setup_cache=SETUP_CACHE, basedir=self.basedir,
             conditional=only_if, callbacks=self.runner_callbacks, 
-            extra_vars=self.extra_vars, debug=self.debug, sudo=sudo,
+            debug=self.debug, sudo=sudo,
             transport=transport, sudo_pass=self.sudo_pass, is_playbook=True
         )
 
@@ -505,14 +503,6 @@ class PlayBook(object):
             for (host, result) in setup_ok.iteritems():
                 SETUP_CACHE[host] = result
 
-        if self.extra_vars:
-            extra_vars = utils.parse_kv(self.extra_vars)
-            for h in self.host_list:
-                try:
-                    SETUP_CACHE[h].update(extra_vars)
-                except:
-                    SETUP_CACHE[h] = extra_vars
-
     # *****************************************************
 
     def _run_play(self, pg):
diff --git a/lib/ansible/runner.py b/lib/ansible/runner.py
index d5d844bc120..66105f0ee72 100755
--- a/lib/ansible/runner.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/runner.py
@@ -90,7 +90,6 @@ class Runner(object):
         verbose=False,
         debug=False, 
         sudo=False, 
-        extra_vars=None, 
         module_vars=None, 
         is_playbook=False, 
         inventory=None):
@@ -109,7 +108,7 @@ class Runner(object):
         self.connector = ansible.connection.Connection(self, self.transport)
 
         if inventory is None:
-            self.inventory = ansible.inventory.Inventory(host_list, extra_vars)
+            self.inventory = ansible.inventory.Inventory(host_list)
         else:
             self.inventory = inventory
 
@@ -121,7 +120,6 @@ class Runner(object):
         self.pattern     = pattern
         self.module_args = module_args
         self.module_vars = module_vars
-        self.extra_vars  = extra_vars
         self.timeout     = timeout
         self.debug       = debug
         self.verbose     = verbose
@@ -146,13 +144,13 @@ class Runner(object):
     # *****************************************************
 
     @classmethod
-    def parse_hosts(cls, host_list, override_hosts=None, extra_vars=None):
+    def parse_hosts(cls, host_list, override_hosts=None):
         ''' parse the host inventory file, returns (hosts, groups) '''
 
         if override_hosts is None:
-            inventory = ansible.inventory.Inventory(host_list, extra_vars)
+            inventory = ansible.inventory.Inventory(host_list)
         else:
-            inventory = ansible.inventory.Inventory(override_hosts, extra_vars)
+            inventory = ansible.inventory.Inventory(override_hosts)
 
         return inventory.host_list, inventory.groups
 
@@ -267,7 +265,7 @@ class Runner(object):
         if not eval(conditional):
             return [ utils.smjson(dict(skipped=True)), None, 'skipped' ]
 
-        host_variables = self.inventory.get_variables(conn.host, self.extra_vars)
+        host_variables = self.inventory.get_variables(conn.host)
         inject.update(host_variables)
 
         if self.module_name == 'setup':
@@ -517,7 +515,7 @@ class Runner(object):
     def _executor_internal(self, host):
         ''' callback executed in parallel for each host. returns (hostname, connected_ok, extra) '''
 
-        host_variables = self.inventory.get_variables(host, self.extra_vars)
+        host_variables = self.inventory.get_variables(host)
         port = host_variables.get('ansible_ssh_port', self.remote_port)
 
         conn = None
diff --git a/test/TestInventory.py b/test/TestInventory.py
index 4f48db14f65..750cbf189ac 100644
--- a/test/TestInventory.py
+++ b/test/TestInventory.py
@@ -87,12 +87,6 @@ class TestInventory(unittest.TestCase):
 
         assert vars == {}
 
-    def test_simple_extra_vars(self):
-        inventory = self.simple_inventory()
-        vars = inventory.get_variables('thor', 'a=5')
-
-        assert vars == {}
-
     def test_simple_port(self):
         inventory = self.simple_inventory()
         vars = inventory.get_variables('hera')
@@ -154,12 +148,6 @@ class TestInventory(unittest.TestCase):
 
         assert vars == {"hammer":True}
 
-    def test_script_extra_vars(self):
-        inventory = self.script_inventory()
-        vars = inventory.get_variables('thor', 'simple=yes')
-
-        assert vars == {"hammer":True, "simple": "yes"}
-
     ### Tests for yaml inventory file
 
     def test_yaml(self):
@@ -234,12 +222,6 @@ class TestInventory(unittest.TestCase):
 
         assert vars == {"moon":"titan"}
 
-    def test_yaml_extra_vars(self):
-        inventory = self.yaml_inventory()
-        vars = inventory.get_variables('thor', 'a=5')
-
-        assert vars == {"hammer":True}
-
     def test_yaml_port(self):
         inventory = self.yaml_inventory()
         vars = inventory.get_variables('hera')