diff --git a/lib/ansible/inventory/__init__.py b/lib/ansible/inventory/__init__.py
index 17d2b36c36a..2bcea0f3519 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/inventory/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/inventory/__init__.py
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ class Inventory(object):
     #              'parser', '_vars_per_host', '_vars_per_group', '_hosts_cache', '_groups_list',
     #              '_pattern_cache', '_vault_password', '_vars_plugins', '_playbook_basedir']
 
+    LOCALHOST_ALIASES = frozenset(('localhost', '127.0.0.1', '::1'))
     def __init__(self, loader, variable_manager, host_list=C.DEFAULT_HOST_LIST):
 
         # the host file file, or script path, or list of hosts
@@ -368,7 +369,7 @@ class Inventory(object):
                     for host in matching_hosts:
                         __append_host_to_results(host)
 
-        if pattern in ["localhost", "127.0.0.1", "::1"] and len(results) == 0:
+        if pattern in self.LOCALHOST_ALIASES and len(results) == 0:
             new_host = self._create_implicit_localhost(pattern)
             results.append(new_host)
         return results
@@ -401,12 +402,15 @@ class Inventory(object):
     def get_host(self, hostname):
         if hostname not in self._hosts_cache:
             self._hosts_cache[hostname] = self._get_host(hostname)
+            if hostname in self.LOCALHOST_ALIASES:
+                for host in self.LOCALHOST_ALIASES.difference((hostname,)):
+                    self._hosts_cache[host] = self._hosts_cache[hostname]
         return self._hosts_cache[hostname]
 
     def _get_host(self, hostname):
-        if hostname in ['localhost', '127.0.0.1', '::1']:
+        if hostname in self.LOCALHOST_ALIASES:
             for host in self.get_group('all').get_hosts():
-                if host.name in ['localhost', '127.0.0.1', '::1']:
+                if host.name in self.LOCALHOST_ALIASES:
                     return host
             return self._create_implicit_localhost(hostname)
         else:
@@ -502,7 +506,7 @@ class Inventory(object):
         """ return a list of hostnames for a pattern """
 
         result = [ h for h in self.get_hosts(pattern) ]
-        if len(result) == 0 and pattern in ["localhost", "127.0.0.1", "::1"]:
+        if len(result) == 0 and pattern in self.LOCALHOST_ALIASES:
             result = [pattern]
         return result
 
diff --git a/lib/ansible/plugins/action/synchronize.py b/lib/ansible/plugins/action/synchronize.py
index 11171d3e03e..1870f2b2153 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/plugins/action/synchronize.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/plugins/action/synchronize.py
@@ -70,6 +70,27 @@ class ActionModule(ActionBase):
 
         return return_data
 
+    def _override_module_replaced_vars(self, task_vars):
+        """ Some vars are substituted into the modules.  Have to make sure
+        that those are correct for localhost when synchronize creates its own
+        connection to localhost."""
+
+        # Clear the current definition of these variables as they came from the
+        # connection to the remote host
+        if 'ansible_syslog_facility' in task_vars:
+            del task_vars['ansible_syslog_facility']
+        for key in task_vars:
+            if key.startswith("ansible_") and key.endswith("_interpreter"):
+                del task_vars[key]
+
+        # Add the definition from localhost
+        localhost = task_vars['hostvars']['localhost']
+        if 'ansible_syslog_facility' in localhost:
+            task_vars['ansible_syslog_facility'] = localhost['ansible_syslog_facility']
+        for key in localhost:
+            if key.startswith("ansible_") and key.endswith("_interpreter"):
+                task_vars[key] = localhost[key]
+
     def run(self, tmp=None, task_vars=dict()):
         ''' generates params and passes them on to the rsync module '''
 
@@ -132,6 +153,7 @@ class ActionModule(ActionBase):
             new_connection = connection_loader.get('local', self._play_context, new_stdin)
             self._connection = new_connection
             transport_overridden = True
+            self._override_module_replaced_vars(task_vars)
             ### FIXME: We think that this was here for v1 because the local
             # connection didn't support sudo.  In v2 it does so we think it's
             # safe to remove this now.