diff --git a/lib/ansible/cli/__init__.py b/lib/ansible/cli/__init__.py
index 610ea94ec03..a5488e825e3 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/cli/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/cli/__init__.py
@@ -611,10 +611,10 @@ class CLI(with_metaclass(ABCMeta, object)):
         ''' find reasonable way to display text '''
         # this is a much simpler form of what is in pydoc.py
         if not sys.stdout.isatty():
-            display.display(text)
+            display.display(text, screen_only=True)
         elif 'PAGER' in os.environ:
             if sys.platform == 'win32':
-                display.display(text)
+                display.display(text, screen_only=True)
             else:
                 self.pager_pipe(text, os.environ['PAGER'])
         else:
@@ -623,7 +623,7 @@ class CLI(with_metaclass(ABCMeta, object)):
             if p.returncode == 0:
                 self.pager_pipe(text, 'less')
             else:
-                display.display(text)
+                display.display(text, screen_only=True)
 
     @staticmethod
     def pager_pipe(text, cmd):