diff --git a/lib/ansible/plugins/action/__init__.py b/lib/ansible/plugins/action/__init__.py
index 2addc597a7..434315417b 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/plugins/action/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/plugins/action/__init__.py
@@ -789,7 +789,7 @@ class ActionBase(with_metaclass(ABCMeta, object)):
         # be sure to remove the BECOME-SUCCESS message now
         out = self._strip_success_message(out)
 
-        display.debug("_low_level_execute_command() done: rc=%d, stdout=%s, stderr=%s" % (rc, stdout, stderr))
+        display.debug(u"_low_level_execute_command() done: rc=%d, stdout=%s, stderr=%s" % (rc, out, err))
         return dict(rc=rc, stdout=out, stdout_lines=out.splitlines(), stderr=err)
 
     def _get_first_available_file(self, faf, of=None, searchdir='files'):