diff --git a/awx/main/tasks.py b/awx/main/tasks.py
index f92a2c3070..7b2702cea3 100644
--- a/awx/main/tasks.py
+++ b/awx/main/tasks.py
@@ -629,6 +629,17 @@ class RunProjectUpdate(BaseTask):
                 scm_password = False
             scm_url = update_scm_url(scm_type, scm_url, scm_username,
                                      scm_password)
+
+        # When using Ansible >= 1.5, pass the extra accept_hostkey parameter to
+        # the git module.
+        if scm_type == 'git' and scm_url_parts.scheme == 'ssh':
+            try:
+                Version = distutils.version.StrictVersion
+                if Version(get_ansible_version()) >= Version('1.5'):
+                    extra_vars['scm_accept_hostkey'] = 'true'
+            except ValueError:
+                pass
+
         return scm_url, extra_vars
 
     def build_args(self, project_update, **kwargs):
diff --git a/awx/playbooks/project_update.yml b/awx/playbooks/project_update.yml
index 29046cace3..e9a8ba75d0 100644
--- a/awx/playbooks/project_update.yml
+++ b/awx/playbooks/project_update.yml
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 # scm_delete_on_update: true/false
 # scm_username: username (only for svn)
 # scm_password: password (only for svn)
+# scm_accept_hostkey: true/false (only for git)
 
 - hosts: all
   connection: local
@@ -19,9 +20,13 @@
       file: path="{{project_path}}" state=absent
       when: scm_delete_on_update|default('')
 
+    - name: update project using git and accept hostkey
+      git: dest="{{project_path}}" repo="{{scm_url}}" version="{{scm_branch}}" force={{scm_clean}} accept_hostkey={{scm_accept_hostkey}}
+      when: scm_type == 'git' and scm_accept_hostkey is defined
+
     - name: update project using git
       git: dest="{{project_path}}" repo="{{scm_url}}" version="{{scm_branch}}" force={{scm_clean}}
-      when: scm_type == 'git'
+      when: scm_type == 'git' and scm_accept_hostkey is not defined
 
     - name: update project using hg
       hg: dest="{{project_path}}" repo="{{scm_url}}" revision="{{scm_branch}}" force={{scm_clean}}