diff --git a/lib/ansible/plugins/cliconf/ios.py b/lib/ansible/plugins/cliconf/ios.py
index 5e2e79e71f..d4637bd759 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/plugins/cliconf/ios.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/plugins/cliconf/ios.py
@@ -119,29 +119,27 @@ class Cliconf(CliconfBase):
 
     @enable_mode
     def edit_config(self, candidate, check_mode=False, replace=None):
-
         if not candidate:
             raise ValueError('must provide a candidate config to load')
 
         if check_mode not in (True, False):
             raise ValueError('`check_mode` must be a bool, got %s' % check_mode)
 
-        device_operations = self.get_device_operations()
-        options = self.get_options()
+        options = self.get_option_values()
         if replace and replace not in options['replace']:
             raise ValueError('`replace` value %s in invalid, valid values are %s' % (replace, options['replace']))
 
         results = []
         if not check_mode:
             for line in chain(['configure terminal'], to_list(candidate)):
-                if line != 'end' and line[0] != '!':
-                    if not isinstance(line, collections.Mapping):
-                        line = {'command': line}
+                if not isinstance(line, collections.Mapping):
+                    line = {'command': line}
 
-                results.append(self.send_command(**line))
+                cmd = line['command']
+                if cmd != 'end' and cmd[0] != '!':
+                    results.append(self.send_command(**line))
 
             results.append(self.send_command('end'))
-
         return results[1:-1]
 
     def get(self, command, prompt=None, answer=None, sendonly=False):
@@ -182,7 +180,7 @@ class Cliconf(CliconfBase):
             'supports_generate_diff': True,
         }
 
-    def get_options(self):
+    def get_option_values(self):
         return {
             'format': ['text'],
             'match': ['line', 'strict', 'exact', 'none'],
@@ -195,7 +193,7 @@ class Cliconf(CliconfBase):
         result['network_api'] = 'cliconf'
         result['device_info'] = self.get_device_info()
         result['device_operations'] = self.get_device_operations()
-        result.update(self.get_options())
+        result.update(self.get_option_values())
         return json.dumps(result)
 
     def edit_banner(self, banners, multiline_delimiter="@", check_mode=False):