diff --git a/lib/ansible/plugins/action/pause.py b/lib/ansible/plugins/action/pause.py
index 97fa9ac320..afe4f1d34b 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/plugins/action/pause.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/plugins/action/pause.py
@@ -120,23 +120,29 @@ class ActionModule(ActionBase):
 
             # save the attributes on the existing (duped) stdin so
             # that we can restore them later after we set raw mode
-            fd = self._connection._new_stdin.fileno()
-            if isatty(fd):
-                old_settings = termios.tcgetattr(fd)
-                tty.setraw(fd)
-
-                # flush the buffer to make sure no previous key presses
-                # are read in below
-                termios.tcflush(self._connection._new_stdin, termios.TCIFLUSH)
+            fd = None
+            try:
+                fd = self._connection._new_stdin.fileno()
+            except ValueError:
+                # someone is using a closed file descriptor as stdin
+                pass
+            if fd is not None:
+                if isatty(fd):
+                    old_settings = termios.tcgetattr(fd)
+                    tty.setraw(fd)
 
+                    # flush the buffer to make sure no previous key presses
+                    # are read in below
+                    termios.tcflush(self._connection._new_stdin, termios.TCIFLUSH)
             while True:
                 try:
-                    key_pressed = self._connection._new_stdin.read(1)
-                    if key_pressed == '\x03':
-                        raise KeyboardInterrupt
+                    if fd is not None:
+                        key_pressed = self._connection._new_stdin.read(1)
+                        if key_pressed == '\x03':
+                            raise KeyboardInterrupt
 
                     if not seconds:
-                        if not isatty(fd):
+                        if fd is None or not isatty(fd):
                             display.warning("Not waiting from prompt as stdin is not interactive")
                             break
                         # read key presses and act accordingly
@@ -154,6 +160,7 @@ class ActionModule(ActionBase):
                     else:
                         raise AnsibleError('user requested abort!')
 
+
         except AnsibleTimeoutExceeded:
             # this is the exception we expect when the alarm signal
             # fires, so we simply ignore it to move into the cleanup