diff --git a/examples/ansible.cfg b/examples/ansible.cfg
index d338cb24f9a..4b4262305af 100644
--- a/examples/ansible.cfg
+++ b/examples/ansible.cfg
@@ -295,6 +295,13 @@
 # paramiko on older platforms rather than removing it, -C controls compression use
 #ssh_args = -C -o ControlMaster=auto -o ControlPersist=60s
 
+# The base directory for the ControlPath sockets. 
+# This is the "%(directory)s" in the control_path option
+# 
+# Example: 
+# control_path_dir = /tmp/.ansible/cp
+#control_path_dir = $HOME/.ansible/cp
+
 # The path to use for the ControlPath sockets. This defaults to
 # "%(directory)s/ansible-ssh-%%h-%%p-%%r", however on some systems with
 # very long hostnames or very long path names (caused by long user names or
diff --git a/lib/ansible/constants.py b/lib/ansible/constants.py
index c6d90537d64..77b3242312b 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/constants.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/constants.py
@@ -299,6 +299,7 @@ MAX_FILE_SIZE_FOR_DIFF         = get_config(p, DEFAULTS, 'max_diff_size', 'ANSIB
 # CONNECTION RELATED
 ANSIBLE_SSH_ARGS               = get_config(p, 'ssh_connection', 'ssh_args', 'ANSIBLE_SSH_ARGS', '-C -o ControlMaster=auto -o ControlPersist=60s')
 ANSIBLE_SSH_CONTROL_PATH       = get_config(p, 'ssh_connection', 'control_path', 'ANSIBLE_SSH_CONTROL_PATH', u"%(directory)s/ansible-ssh-%%h-%%p-%%r")
+ANSIBLE_SSH_CONTROL_PATH_DIR   = get_config(p, 'ssh_connection', 'control_path_dir', 'ANSIBLE_SSH_CONTROL_PATH_DIR', u'$HOME/.ansible/cp')
 ANSIBLE_SSH_PIPELINING         = get_config(p, 'ssh_connection', 'pipelining', 'ANSIBLE_SSH_PIPELINING', False, value_type='boolean')
 ANSIBLE_SSH_RETRIES            = get_config(p, 'ssh_connection', 'retries', 'ANSIBLE_SSH_RETRIES', 0, value_type='integer')
 ANSIBLE_SSH_EXECUTABLE         = get_config(p, 'ssh_connection', 'ssh_executable', 'ANSIBLE_SSH_EXECUTABLE', 'ssh')
diff --git a/lib/ansible/plugins/connection/ssh.py b/lib/ansible/plugins/connection/ssh.py
index 0c18b983a58..cf6df554399 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/plugins/connection/ssh.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/plugins/connection/ssh.py
@@ -228,7 +228,7 @@ class Connection(ConnectionBase):
             self._persistent = True
 
             if not controlpath:
-                cpdir = unfrackpath(u'$HOME/.ansible/cp')
+                cpdir = unfrackpath(C.ANSIBLE_SSH_CONTROL_PATH_DIR)
                 b_cpdir = to_bytes(cpdir, errors='surrogate_or_strict')
 
                 # The directory must exist and be writable.