diff --git a/lib/ansible/utils/vars.py b/lib/ansible/utils/vars.py
index 4e7830e1f2..42da5006a9 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/utils/vars.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/utils/vars.py
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ __metaclass__ = type
 import ast
 import os
 import random
-import sys
 import uuid
 
 from json import dumps
@@ -35,9 +34,10 @@ from ansible.errors import AnsibleError
 from ansible.parsing.splitter import parse_kv
 from ansible.module_utils._text import to_native, to_text
 
+_MAXSIZE   = 2**32
 cur_id     = 0
 node_mac   = ("%012x" % uuid.getnode())[:12]
-random_int = ("%08x" % random.randint(0, sys.maxint))[:8]
+random_int = ("%08x" % random.randint(0, _MAXSIZE))[:8]
 
 def get_unique_id():
     global cur_id