diff --git a/lib/ansible/playbook/task.py b/lib/ansible/playbook/task.py
index f085b0590eb..9a2e39f139d 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/playbook/task.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/playbook/task.py
@@ -68,8 +68,9 @@ class Task(object):
         self.name         = ds.get('name', None)
         self.tags         = [ 'all' ]
         self.register     = ds.get('register', None)
-        self.sudo         = ds.get('sudo', play.sudo)
-        if self.sudo is True:
+        self.sudo         = utils.boolean(ds.get('sudo', play.sudo))
+
+        if self.sudo:
             self.sudo_user    = ds.get('sudo_user', play.sudo_user)
             self.sudo_pass    = ds.get('sudo_pass', play.playbook.sudo_pass)
         else:
diff --git a/lib/ansible/utils.py b/lib/ansible/utils.py
index 92d1ef9c3dc..30f995ee1c4 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/utils.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/utils.py
@@ -499,3 +499,12 @@ def get_available_modules(dirname=None):
             modules_list.update(os.listdir(path))
     modules_list = list(modules_list)
     return modules_list
+
+def boolean(value):
+    val = str(value)
+    if val.lower() in [ "true", "t", "y", "1", "yes" ]:
+        return True
+    else:
+        return False
+
+