diff --git a/lib/ansible/playbook/play.py b/lib/ansible/playbook/play.py
index 386170be78c..58f56db2302 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/playbook/play.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/playbook/play.py
@@ -855,4 +855,5 @@ class Play(object):
 
         # finally, update the VARS_CACHE for the host, if it is set
         if host is not None:
+            self.playbook.VARS_CACHE[host].update(self.vars)
             self.playbook.VARS_CACHE[host].update(self.playbook.extra_vars)