diff --git a/v2/ansible/plugins/action/__init__.py b/v2/ansible/plugins/action/__init__.py
index 30d1641090e..1ec1da34c7c 100644
--- a/v2/ansible/plugins/action/__init__.py
+++ b/v2/ansible/plugins/action/__init__.py
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ class ActionBase:
         # Catch failure conditions, files should never be
         # written to locations in /.
         if rc == '/':
-            raise AnsibleError('failed to resolve remote temporary directory from %s: `%s` returned empty string' % (basetmp, cmd))
+            raise AnsibleError('failed to resolve remote temporary directory from %s: `%s` returned empty string' % (basefile, cmd))
 
         return rc