diff --git a/lib/ansible/plugins/vars/host_group_vars.py b/lib/ansible/plugins/vars/host_group_vars.py
index 6bebdb0f34..c8d22cc779 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/plugins/vars/host_group_vars.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/plugins/vars/host_group_vars.py
@@ -94,27 +94,42 @@ class VarsModule(BaseVarsPlugin):
 
         b_path = to_bytes(os.path.join(path, name))
         found = []
-        for ext in C.YAML_FILENAME_EXTENSIONS + ['']:
 
-            if '.' in ext:
-                full_path = b_path + to_bytes(ext)
-            elif ext:
-                full_path = b'.'.join([b_path, to_bytes(ext)])
+        # first look for w/o extensions
+        if os.path.exists(b_path):
+            if os.path.isdir(b_path):
+                found.extend(self._get_dir_files(b_path))
             else:
-                full_path = b_path
+                found.append(b_path)
+        else:
+            # add valid extensions to name
+            for ext in C.YAML_FILENAME_EXTENSIONS:
 
-            if os.path.exists(full_path):
-                self._display.debug("\tfound %s" % to_text(full_path))
-                if os.path.isdir(full_path):
-                    # matched dir name, so use all files included recursively
-                    for spath in os.listdir(full_path):
-                        if spath.startswith('.'):
-                            continue
-                        full_spath = os.path.join(full_path, spath)
-                        if os.path.isdir(full_spath):
-                            found.extend(self._find_vars_files(full_spath, ''))
-                        else:
-                            found.append(full_spath)
+                if '.' in ext:
+                    full_path = b_path + to_bytes(ext)
+                elif ext:
+                    full_path = b'.'.join([b_path, to_bytes(ext)])
                 else:
+                    full_path = b_path
+
+                if os.path.exists(full_path) and os.path.isfile(full_path):
                     found.append(full_path)
+                    break
+        return found
+
+    def _get_dir_files(self, path):
+
+        found = []
+        for spath in os.listdir(path):
+            if not spath.startswith('.'): # skip hidden
+
+                ext = os.path.splitext()[-1]
+                full_spath = os.path.join(path, spath)
+
+                if os.path.isdir(full_spath) and not ext: # recursive search if dir
+                    found.extend(self._get_dir_files(full_spath))
+                elif os.path.isfile(full_spath) and (not ext or ext in C.YAML_FILENAME_EXTENSIONS):
+                    # only consider files with valid extensions or no extension
+                    found.append(full_spath)
+
         return found