diff --git a/lib/ansible/cli/__init__.py b/lib/ansible/cli/__init__.py
index 0106b80cf62..3b9be157604 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/cli/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/cli/__init__.py
@@ -262,6 +262,8 @@ class CLI(object):
             parser.add_option('--new-vault-password-file',
                 dest='new_vault_password_file', help="new vault password file for rekey", action="callback",
                 callback=CLI.expand_tilde, type=str)
+            parser.add_option('--output', default=None, dest='output_file',
+                help='output file name for encrypt or decrypt; use - for stdout')
 
 
         if subset_opts:
diff --git a/lib/ansible/cli/vault.py b/lib/ansible/cli/vault.py
index bae7377750b..246a29e1e46 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/cli/vault.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/cli/vault.py
@@ -63,7 +63,19 @@ class VaultCLI(CLI):
         self.options, self.args = self.parser.parse_args()
         self.display.verbosity = self.options.verbosity
 
-        if len(self.args) == 0:
+        if self.options.output_file:
+            if self.action not in ['encrypt','decrypt']:
+                raise AnsibleOptionsError("The --output option can be used only with ansible-vault encrypt/decrypt")
+
+            # This restriction should remain in place until it's possible to
+            # load multiple YAML records from a single file, or it's too easy
+            # to create an encrypted file that can't be read back in. But in
+            # the meanwhile, "cat a b c|ansible-vault encrypt --output x" is
+            # a workaround.
+            if len(self.args) > 1:
+                raise AnsibleOptionsError("At most one input file may be used with the --output option")
+
+        elif len(self.args) == 0:
             raise AnsibleOptionsError("Vault requires at least one filename as a parameter")
 
     def run(self):
@@ -87,20 +99,27 @@ class VaultCLI(CLI):
 
         self.execute()
 
-    def execute_create(self):
+    def execute_encrypt(self):
 
-        if len(self.args) > 1:
-            raise AnsibleOptionsError("ansible-vault create can take only one filename argument")
+        for f in self.args or ['-']:
+            self.editor.encrypt_file(f, output_file=self.options.output_file)
 
-        self.editor.create_file(self.args[0])
+        self.display.display("Encryption successful", stderr=True)
 
     def execute_decrypt(self):
 
-        for f in self.args:
-            self.editor.decrypt_file(f)
+        for f in self.args or ['-']:
+            self.editor.decrypt_file(f, output_file=self.options.output_file)
 
         self.display.display("Decryption successful", stderr=True)
 
+    def execute_create(self):
+
+        if len(self.args) > 1:
+            raise AnsibleOptionsError("ansible-vault create can take only one filename argument")
+
+        self.editor.create_file(self.args[0])
+
     def execute_edit(self):
         for f in self.args:
             self.editor.edit_file(f)
@@ -110,13 +129,6 @@ class VaultCLI(CLI):
         for f in self.args:
             self.editor.view_file(f)
 
-    def execute_encrypt(self):
-
-        for f in self.args:
-            self.editor.encrypt_file(f)
-
-        self.display.display("Encryption successful", stderr=True)
-
     def execute_rekey(self):
         for f in self.args:
             if not (os.path.isfile(f)):
diff --git a/lib/ansible/parsing/vault/__init__.py b/lib/ansible/parsing/vault/__init__.py
index e8636cad111..e7c60611e8f 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/parsing/vault/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/parsing/vault/__init__.py
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ __metaclass__ = type
 import os
 import shlex
 import shutil
+import sys
 import tempfile
 from io import BytesIO
 from subprocess import call
@@ -258,21 +259,21 @@ class VaultEditor:
         # and restore umask
         os.umask(old_umask)
 
-    def encrypt_file(self, filename):
+    def encrypt_file(self, filename, output_file=None):
 
         check_prereqs()
 
         plaintext = self.read_data(filename)
         ciphertext = self.vault.encrypt(plaintext)
-        self.write_data(ciphertext, filename)
+        self.write_data(ciphertext, output_file or filename)
 
-    def decrypt_file(self, filename):
+    def decrypt_file(self, filename, output_file=None):
 
         check_prereqs()
 
         ciphertext = self.read_data(filename)
         plaintext = self.vault.decrypt(ciphertext)
-        self.write_data(plaintext, filename)
+        self.write_data(plaintext, output_file or filename)
 
     def create_file(self, filename):
         """ create a new encrypted file """
@@ -327,7 +328,10 @@ class VaultEditor:
 
     def read_data(self, filename):
         try:
-            f = open(filename, "rb")
+            if filename == '-':
+                f = sys.stdin
+            else:
+                f = open(filename, "rb")
             data = f.read()
             f.close()
         except Exception as e:
@@ -336,9 +340,12 @@ class VaultEditor:
         return data
 
     def write_data(self, data, filename):
-        if os.path.isfile(filename):
-            os.remove(filename)
-        f = open(filename, "wb")
+        if filename == '-':
+            f = sys.stdout
+        else:
+            if os.path.isfile(filename):
+                os.remove(filename)
+            f = open(filename, "wb")
         f.write(to_bytes(data, errors='strict'))
         f.close()