diff --git a/system/ping b/system/ping
index 69507111aec..e0ff5f2bbad 100644
--- a/system/ping
+++ b/system/ping
@@ -48,7 +48,9 @@ def main():
         result['ping'] = module.params['data']
     module.exit_json(**result)
 
-# this is magic, see lib/ansible/module_common.py
-#<<INCLUDE_ANSIBLE_MODULE_COMMON>>
+### boilerplate: import common module snippets here
+from ansible.module_utils.basic import *
+
+### invoke the module
 main()
 
diff --git a/system/service b/system/service
index fb9364c24f5..63f681f6ace 100644
--- a/system/service
+++ b/system/service
@@ -1205,7 +1205,11 @@ def main():
 
     module.exit_json(**result)
 
-# this is magic, see lib/ansible/module_common.py
-#<<INCLUDE_ANSIBLE_MODULE_COMMON>>
+### boilerplate: import common module snippets here
+from ansible.module_utils.basic import *
 
+### invoke the module
 main()
+
+
+