diff --git a/awx/main/constants.py b/awx/main/constants.py
index e7c8a943fc..98802f5ef0 100644
--- a/awx/main/constants.py
+++ b/awx/main/constants.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ from django.utils.translation import ugettext_lazy as _
 
 __all__ = [
     'CLOUD_PROVIDERS', 'SCHEDULEABLE_PROVIDERS', 'PRIVILEGE_ESCALATION_METHODS',
-    'ANSI_SGR_PATTERN', 'CAN_CANCEL', 'ACTIVE_STATES'
+    'ANSI_SGR_PATTERN', 'CAN_CANCEL', 'ACTIVE_STATES', 'STANDARD_INVENTORY_UPDATE_ENV'
 ]
 
 
@@ -20,6 +20,12 @@ PRIVILEGE_ESCALATION_METHODS = [
 ]
 CHOICES_PRIVILEGE_ESCALATION_METHODS = [('', _('None'))] + PRIVILEGE_ESCALATION_METHODS
 ANSI_SGR_PATTERN = re.compile(r'\x1b\[[0-9;]*m')
+STANDARD_INVENTORY_UPDATE_ENV = {
+    # Failure to parse inventory should always be fatal
+    'ANSIBLE_INVENTORY_UNPARSED_FAILED': 'True',
+    # Always use the --export option for ansible-inventory
+    'ANSIBLE_INVENTORY_EXPORT': 'True'
+}
 CAN_CANCEL = ('new', 'pending', 'waiting', 'running')
 ACTIVE_STATES = CAN_CANCEL
 TOKEN_CENSOR = '************'
diff --git a/awx/main/management/commands/inventory_import.py b/awx/main/management/commands/inventory_import.py
index 021064a46b..f52cc703ca 100644
--- a/awx/main/management/commands/inventory_import.py
+++ b/awx/main/management/commands/inventory_import.py
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ from awx.main.utils import (
 )
 from awx.main.utils.mem_inventory import MemInventory, dict_to_mem_data
 from awx.main.signals import disable_activity_stream
+from awx.main.constants import STANDARD_INVENTORY_UPDATE_ENV
 
 logger = logging.getLogger('awx.main.commands.inventory_import')
 
@@ -82,7 +83,10 @@ class AnsibleInventoryLoader(object):
         env = dict(os.environ.items())
         env['VIRTUAL_ENV'] = settings.ANSIBLE_VENV_PATH
         env['PATH'] = os.path.join(settings.ANSIBLE_VENV_PATH, "bin") + ":" + env['PATH']
-        env['ANSIBLE_INVENTORY_UNPARSED_FAILED'] = '1'
+        # Set configuration items that should always be used for updates
+        for key, value in STANDARD_INVENTORY_UPDATE_ENV.items():
+            if key not in env:
+                env[key] = value
         venv_libdir = os.path.join(settings.ANSIBLE_VENV_PATH, "lib")
         env.pop('PYTHONPATH', None)  # default to none if no python_ver matches
         if os.path.isdir(os.path.join(venv_libdir, "python2.7")):
diff --git a/awx/main/tasks.py b/awx/main/tasks.py
index ffb646856a..5416ed5262 100644
--- a/awx/main/tasks.py
+++ b/awx/main/tasks.py
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ from crum import impersonate
 
 # AWX
 from awx import __version__ as awx_application_version
-from awx.main.constants import CLOUD_PROVIDERS, PRIVILEGE_ESCALATION_METHODS
+from awx.main.constants import CLOUD_PROVIDERS, PRIVILEGE_ESCALATION_METHODS, STANDARD_INVENTORY_UPDATE_ENV
 from awx.main.access import access_registry
 from awx.main.models import * # noqa
 from awx.main.constants import ACTIVE_STATES
@@ -2002,8 +2002,7 @@ class RunInventoryUpdate(BaseTask):
         # Pass inventory source ID to inventory script.
         env['INVENTORY_SOURCE_ID'] = str(inventory_update.inventory_source_id)
         env['INVENTORY_UPDATE_ID'] = str(inventory_update.pk)
-        # Always use the --export option for ansible-inventory
-        env['ANSIBLE_INVENTORY_EXPORT'] = str(True)
+        env.update(STANDARD_INVENTORY_UPDATE_ENV)
         plugin_name = inventory_update.get_inventory_plugin_name()
         if plugin_name is not None:
             env['ANSIBLE_INVENTORY_ENABLED'] = plugin_name