diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/missing_interpreter.yml b/changelogs/fragments/missing_interpreter.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..38e711b5e1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/missing_interpreter.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+bugfixes:
+    - nicer message when we are missing interpreter
diff --git a/lib/ansible/plugins/action/__init__.py b/lib/ansible/plugins/action/__init__.py
index 72dd769686..41ac119d95 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/plugins/action/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/plugins/action/__init__.py
@@ -60,6 +60,8 @@ class ActionBase(with_metaclass(ABCMeta, object)):
         # Backwards compat: self._display isn't really needed, just import the global display and use that.
         self._display = display
 
+        self._used_interpreter = None
+
     @abstractmethod
     def run(self, tmp=None, task_vars=None):
         """ Action Plugins should implement this method to perform their
@@ -753,6 +755,7 @@ class ActionBase(with_metaclass(ABCMeta, object)):
         if not shebang and module_style != 'binary':
             raise AnsibleError("module (%s) is missing interpreter line" % module_name)
 
+        self._used_interpreter = shebang
         remote_module_path = None
 
         if not self._is_pipelining_enabled(module_style, wrap_async):
@@ -896,12 +899,20 @@ class ActionBase(with_metaclass(ABCMeta, object)):
         except ValueError:
             # not valid json, lets try to capture error
             data = dict(failed=True, _ansible_parsed=False)
-            data['msg'] = "MODULE FAILURE"
             data['module_stdout'] = res.get('stdout', u'')
             if 'stderr' in res:
                 data['module_stderr'] = res['stderr']
                 if res['stderr'].startswith(u'Traceback'):
                     data['exception'] = res['stderr']
+
+            # try to figure out if we are missing interpreter
+            if self._used_interpreter is not None and '%s: No such file or directory' % self._used_interpreter.lstrip('!#') in data['module_stderr']:
+                data['msg'] = "The module failed to execute correctly, you probably need to set the interpreter."
+            else:
+                data['msg'] = "MODULE FAILURE"
+
+            data['msg'] += '\nSee stdout/stderr for the exact error'
+
             if 'rc' in res:
                 data['rc'] = res['rc']
         return data