diff --git a/ansible_mitogen/connection.py b/ansible_mitogen/connection.py
index 8f7dd735..810eb90b 100644
--- a/ansible_mitogen/connection.py
+++ b/ansible_mitogen/connection.py
@@ -503,6 +503,9 @@ class Connection(ansible.plugins.connection.ConnectionBase):
     #: matching vanilla Ansible behaviour.
     loader_basedir = None
 
+    # set by `_get_task_vars()` for interpreter discovery
+    _action = None
+
     def __del__(self):
         """
         Ansible cannot be trusted to always call close() e.g. the synchronize
diff --git a/ansible_mitogen/transport_config.py b/ansible_mitogen/transport_config.py
index ff22c0fb..92456dba 100644
--- a/ansible_mitogen/transport_config.py
+++ b/ansible_mitogen/transport_config.py
@@ -83,11 +83,11 @@ def run_interpreter_discovery_if_necessary(s, task_vars, action):
     Triggers ansible python interpreter discovery if requested.
     Caches this value the same way Ansible does it.
     """
-    # special case where we've already called discover_interpreter which then
+    # _finding_python_interpreter is a special case where we've already called discover_interpreter which then
     # calls low_level_exec_command which then retriggers spec.python_path()
     # in connect_ssh(), so we'll return the default '/usr/bin/python' to finish building the stack
     # TODO: possible issues here? Chicken-and-egg issue, in order to `connect_ssh` we need a python path
-    if action._finding_python_interpreter:
+    if action is None or action._finding_python_interpreter or s is None:
         return '/usr/bin/python'
     
     if s in ['auto', 'auto_legacy', 'auto_silent', 'auto_legacy_silent']: