diff --git a/library/packaging/pip b/library/packaging/pip
index 7f293c5c02..49067dc119 100644
--- a/library/packaging/pip
+++ b/library/packaging/pip
@@ -144,6 +144,17 @@ EXAMPLES = '''
 - pip: name=bottle executable=pip-3.3
 '''
 
+def _get_cmd_options(module, cmd):
+    thiscmd = cmd + " --help"
+    rc, stdout, stderr = module.run_command(thiscmd)
+    #import epdb; epdb.serve()
+    if rc != 0:
+        module.fail_json(msg="Could not get --help output from %s" % virtualenv)
+
+    words = stdout.strip().split()
+    cmd_options = [ x for x in words if x.startswith('--') ]
+    return cmd_options
+    
 
 def _get_full_name(name, version=None):
     if version is None:
@@ -247,7 +258,11 @@ def main():
             if module.params['virtualenv_site_packages']:
                 cmd = '%s --system-site-packages %s' % (virtualenv, env)
             else:
-                cmd = '%s --no-site-packages %s' % (virtualenv, env)
+                cmd_opts = _get_cmd_options(module, virtualenv)
+                if '--no-site-packages' in cmd_opts:
+                    cmd = '%s --no-site-packages %s' % (virtualenv, env)
+                else:
+                    cmd = '%s %s' % (virtualenv, env)
             os.chdir(tempfile.gettempdir())
             if chdir:
                 os.chdir(chdir)