diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/fix_cli_ssh_defaults.yml b/changelogs/fragments/fix_cli_ssh_defaults.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..65d26768c9c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/fix_cli_ssh_defaults.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+bugfixes:
+  - cli defaults for ssh args set to None as '' was bypassing normal default.
diff --git a/lib/ansible/cli/arguments/option_helpers.py b/lib/ansible/cli/arguments/option_helpers.py
index 1dad960de0f..3a6f6adebb9 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/cli/arguments/option_helpers.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/cli/arguments/option_helpers.py
@@ -256,13 +256,13 @@ def add_connect_options(parser):
                                help="override the connection timeout in seconds (default=%s)" % C.DEFAULT_TIMEOUT)
 
     # ssh only
-    connect_group.add_argument('--ssh-common-args', default='', dest='ssh_common_args',
+    connect_group.add_argument('--ssh-common-args', default=None, dest='ssh_common_args',
                                help="specify common arguments to pass to sftp/scp/ssh (e.g. ProxyCommand)")
-    connect_group.add_argument('--sftp-extra-args', default='', dest='sftp_extra_args',
+    connect_group.add_argument('--sftp-extra-args', default=None, dest='sftp_extra_args',
                                help="specify extra arguments to pass to sftp only (e.g. -f, -l)")
-    connect_group.add_argument('--scp-extra-args', default='', dest='scp_extra_args',
+    connect_group.add_argument('--scp-extra-args', default=None, dest='scp_extra_args',
                                help="specify extra arguments to pass to scp only (e.g. -l)")
-    connect_group.add_argument('--ssh-extra-args', default='', dest='ssh_extra_args',
+    connect_group.add_argument('--ssh-extra-args', default=None, dest='ssh_extra_args',
                                help="specify extra arguments to pass to ssh only (e.g. -R)")
 
     parser.add_argument_group(connect_group)
diff --git a/lib/ansible/plugins/connection/ssh.py b/lib/ansible/plugins/connection/ssh.py
index 7f67c798f8d..a253809a793 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/plugins/connection/ssh.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/plugins/connection/ssh.py
@@ -93,6 +93,7 @@ DOCUMENTATION = '''
               - name: ansible_ssh_common_args
           cli:
               - name: ssh_common_args
+          default: ''
       ssh_executable:
           default: ssh
           description:
@@ -142,6 +143,7 @@ DOCUMENTATION = '''
               version_added: '2.7'
           cli:
             - name: scp_extra_args
+          default: ''
       sftp_extra_args:
           description: Extra exclusive to the ``sftp`` CLI
           vars:
@@ -155,6 +157,7 @@ DOCUMENTATION = '''
               version_added: '2.7'
           cli:
             - name: sftp_extra_args
+          default: ''
       ssh_extra_args:
           description: Extra exclusive to the 'ssh' CLI
           vars:
@@ -168,6 +171,7 @@ DOCUMENTATION = '''
               version_added: '2.7'
           cli:
             - name: ssh_extra_args
+          default: ''
       reconnection_retries:
           description: Number of attempts to connect.
           default: 0
diff --git a/test/integration/targets/connection_ssh/runme.sh b/test/integration/targets/connection_ssh/runme.sh
index 7e5953edac8..cbadf1d5d1d 100755
--- a/test/integration/targets/connection_ssh/runme.sh
+++ b/test/integration/targets/connection_ssh/runme.sh
@@ -68,3 +68,6 @@ ANSIBLE_SSH_TRANSFER_METHOD=piped ./posix.sh "$@"
 
 # test config defaults override
 ansible-playbook check_ssh_defaults.yml "$@" -i test_connection.inventory
+
+# ensure we can load from ini cfg
+ANSIBLE_CONFIG=./test_ssh_defaults.cfg ansible-playbook verify_config.yml "$@"
diff --git a/test/integration/targets/connection_ssh/test_ssh_defaults.cfg b/test/integration/targets/connection_ssh/test_ssh_defaults.cfg
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..362f946086a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/integration/targets/connection_ssh/test_ssh_defaults.cfg
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+[ssh_connection]
+ssh_common_args=fromconfig
+ssh_extra_args=fromconfig
+scp_extra_args=fromconfig
+sftp_extra_args=fromconfig
diff --git a/test/integration/targets/connection_ssh/verify_config.yml b/test/integration/targets/connection_ssh/verify_config.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..0bf79586826
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/integration/targets/connection_ssh/verify_config.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+- hosts: localhost
+  gather_facts: false
+  vars:
+    ssh_configs:
+      - ssh_common_args
+      - ssh_extra_args
+      - sftp_extra_args
+      - scp_extra_args
+  tasks:
+    - debug:
+        msg: '{{item ~ ": " ~ lookup("config", item, plugin_type="connection", plugin_name="ssh")}}'
+        verbosity: 3
+      loop: '{{ssh_configs}}'
+      tags: [ configfile ]
+
+    - name: check config from file
+      assert:
+        that:
+          - 'lookup("config", item, plugin_type="connection", plugin_name="ssh") == "fromconfig"'
+      loop: '{{ssh_configs}}'
+      tags: [ configfile ]