diff --git a/bin/ansible-vault b/bin/ansible-vault
index 6c793b871a..7d3c7f208c 100755
--- a/bin/ansible-vault
+++ b/bin/ansible-vault
@@ -20,13 +20,13 @@
 # example playbook to bootstrap this script in the examples/ dir which
 # installs ansible and sets it up to run on cron.
 
+import os
 import sys
 import traceback
 
 from ansible import utils
 from ansible import errors
-from ansible.utils.vault import *
-from ansible.utils.vault import Vault
+from ansible.utils.vault import VaultEditor
 
 from optparse import OptionParser
 
@@ -100,32 +100,30 @@ def get_opt(options, k, defval=""):
 # Command functions
 #-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-def _get_vault(filename, options, password):
-    this_vault = Vault()
-    this_vault.filename = filename
-    this_vault.vault_password = password
-    this_vault.password = password
-    return this_vault
-
 def execute_create(args, options, parser):
 
     if len(args) > 1:
-        raise errors.AnsibleError("create does not accept more than one filename")        
-
+        raise errors.AnsibleError("'create' does not accept more than one filename")        
     password, new_password = utils.ask_vault_passwords(ask_vault_pass=True, confirm_vault=True)
 
-    this_vault = _get_vault(args[0], options, password)
-    if not hasattr(options, 'cipher'):
-        this_vault.cipher = 'AES'
-    this_vault.create()
+    cipher = 'AES'
+    if hasattr(options, 'cipher'):
+        cipher = options.cipher
+
+    this_editor = VaultEditor(cipher, password, args[0])
+    this_editor.create_file()
 
 def execute_decrypt(args, options, parser):
 
     password, new_password = utils.ask_vault_passwords(ask_vault_pass=True)
 
+    cipher = 'AES'
+    if hasattr(options, 'cipher'):
+        cipher = options.cipher
+
     for f in args:
-        this_vault = _get_vault(f, options, password)
-        this_vault.decrypt()
+        this_editor = VaultEditor(cipher, password, f)
+        this_editor.decrypt_file()
 
     print "Decryption successful"
 
@@ -136,29 +134,35 @@ def execute_edit(args, options, parser):
 
     password, new_password = utils.ask_vault_passwords(ask_vault_pass=True)
 
+    cipher = None
+
     for f in args:
-        this_vault = _get_vault(f, options, password)
-        this_vault.edit()
+        this_editor = VaultEditor(cipher, password, f)
+        this_editor.edit_file()
 
 def execute_encrypt(args, options, parser):
 
+    if len(args) > 1:
+        raise errors.AnsibleError("'create' does not accept more than one filename")        
     password, new_password = utils.ask_vault_passwords(ask_vault_pass=True, confirm_vault=True)
 
+    cipher = 'AES'
+    if hasattr(options, 'cipher'):
+        cipher = options.cipher
+
     for f in args:
-        this_vault = _get_vault(f, options, password)
-        if not hasattr(options, 'cipher'):
-            this_vault.cipher = 'AES'
-        this_vault.encrypt()
+        this_editor = VaultEditor(cipher, password, f)
+        this_editor.encrypt_file()
 
     print "Encryption successful"
 
 def execute_rekey(args, options, parser):
 
     password, new_password = utils.ask_vault_passwords(ask_vault_pass=True, ask_new_vault_pass=True, confirm_new=True)
-
+    cipher = None
     for f in args:
-        this_vault = _get_vault(f, options, password)
-        this_vault.rekey(new_password)
+        this_editor = VaultEditor(cipher, password, f)
+        this_editor.rekey_file(new_password)
 
     print "Rekey successful"
 
diff --git a/lib/ansible/utils/__init__.py b/lib/ansible/utils/__init__.py
index 3df2ddfbed..4f2ad73419 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/utils/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/utils/__init__.py
@@ -43,7 +43,8 @@ import getpass
 import sys
 import textwrap
 
-import vault
+#import vault
+from vault import VaultLib
 
 VERBOSITY=0
 
@@ -501,14 +502,14 @@ def parse_yaml_from_file(path, vault_password=None):
 
     data = None
 
-    #VAULT
-    if vault.is_encrypted(path):
-        data = vault.decrypt(path, vault_password)
-    else:
-        try:
-            data = open(path).read()
-        except IOError:
-            raise errors.AnsibleError("file could not read: %s" % path)
+    try:
+        data = open(path).read()
+    except IOError:
+        raise errors.AnsibleError("file could not read: %s" % path)
+
+    vault = VaultLib(password=vault_password)
+    if vault.is_encrypted(data):
+        data = vault.decrypt(data)
 
     try:
         return parse_yaml(data)
diff --git a/lib/ansible/utils/vault.py b/lib/ansible/utils/vault.py
index b25f19c155..b5987151a3 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/utils/vault.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/utils/vault.py
@@ -32,101 +32,122 @@ from ansible import constants as C
 
 # AES IMPORTS
 try:
-    from Crypto.Cipher import AES as AES_
+    from Crypto.Cipher import AES as AES
     HAS_AES = True   
 except ImportError:
     HAS_AES = False    
 
 HEADER='$ANSIBLE_VAULT'
+CIPHER_WHITELIST=['AES']
 
-def is_encrypted(filename):
+class VaultLib(object):
 
-    ''' 
-    Check a file for the encrypted header and return True or False 
-    
-    The first line should start with the header
-    defined by the global HEADER. If true, we 
-    assume this is a properly encrypted file.
-    '''
-
-    # read first line of the file
-    with open(filename) as f:
-        try:
-            head = f.next()
-        except StopIteration:
-            # empty file, so not encrypted
-            return False
-
-    if head.startswith(HEADER):
-        return True
-    else:
-        return False
-
-def decrypt(filename, password):
-
-    ''' 
-    Return a decrypted string of the contents in an encrypted file
-
-    This is used by the yaml loading code in ansible
-    to automatically determine the encryption type
-    and return a plaintext string of the unencrypted
-    data.  
-    '''
-
-    if password is None:
-        raise errors.AnsibleError("A vault password must be specified to decrypt %s" % filename)
-
-    V = Vault(filename=filename, vault_password=password)
-    return_data = V._decrypt_to_string()
-
-    if not V._verify_decryption(return_data):
-        raise errors.AnsibleError("Decryption of %s failed" % filename)
-
-    this_sha, return_data = V._strip_sha(return_data)    
-    return return_data.strip()
-
-
-class Vault(object):
-    def __init__(self, filename=None, cipher=None, vault_password=None):
-        self.filename = filename
-        self.vault_password = vault_password
-        self.cipher = cipher
+    def __init__(self, password):
+        self.password = password
+        self.cipher_name = None
         self.version = '1.0'
 
-    ###############
-    #   PUBLIC
-    ###############
-
-    def eval_header(self):
-
-        """ Read first line of the file and parse header """
-
-        # read first line
-        with open(self.filename) as f:
-            #head=[f.next() for x in xrange(1)]
-            head = f.next()
-
-        this_version = None
-        this_cipher = None
-
-        # split segments
-        if len(head.split(';')) == 3:
-            this_version = head.split(';')[1].strip()
-            this_cipher = head.split(';')[2].strip()            
+    def is_encrypted(self, data): 
+        if data.startswith(HEADER):
+            return True
         else:
-            raise errors.AnsibleError("%s has an invalid header" % self.filename)
+            return False
 
-        # validate acceptable version
-        this_version = float(this_version)
-        if this_version < C.VAULT_VERSION_MIN or this_version > C.VAULT_VERSION_MAX:
-            raise errors.AnsibleError("%s must have a version between %s and %s " % (self.filename, 
-                                                                            C.VAULT_VERSION_MIN,
-                                                                            C.VAULT_VERSION_MAX))
-        # set properties
-        self.cipher = this_cipher
-        self.version = this_version
+    def encrypt(self, data):
 
-    def create(self):
+        if self.is_encrypted(data):
+            raise errors.AnsibleError("data is already encrypted")
+
+        if 'Vault' + self.cipher_name in globals() and self.cipher_name in CIPHER_WHITELIST: 
+            cipher = globals()['Vault' + self.cipher_name]
+            this_cipher = cipher()
+        else:
+            raise errors.AnsibleError("%s cipher could not be found" % self.cipher_name)
+
+        # combine sha + data
+        this_sha = sha256(data).hexdigest()
+        tmp_data = this_sha + "\n" + data
+        # encrypt sha + data
+        tmp_data = this_cipher.encrypt(tmp_data, self.password)
+        # add header 
+        tmp_data = self._add_headers_and_hexify_encrypted_data(tmp_data)
+        return tmp_data
+
+    def decrypt(self, data):
+        if self.password is None:
+            raise errors.AnsibleError("A vault password must be specified to decrypt data")
+
+        if not self.is_encrypted(data):
+            raise errors.AnsibleError("data is not encrypted")
+
+        # clean out header, hex and sha
+        data = self._split_headers_and_get_unhexified_data(data)
+
+        # create the cipher object
+        if 'Vault' + self.cipher_name in globals() and self.cipher_name in CIPHER_WHITELIST: 
+            cipher = globals()['Vault' + self.cipher_name]
+            this_cipher = cipher()
+        else:
+            raise errors.AnsibleError("%s cipher could not be found" % self.cipher_name)
+
+        # try to unencrypt data
+        data = this_cipher.decrypt(data, self.password)
+
+        # split out sha and verify decryption
+        split_data = data.split("\n")
+        this_sha = split_data[0]
+        this_data = '\n'.join(split_data[1:])
+        test_sha = sha256(this_data).hexdigest()
+        if this_sha != test_sha:
+            raise errors.AnsibleError("Decryption of %s failed" % filename)
+
+        return this_data            
+
+    def _add_headers_and_hexify_encrypted_data(self, data):     
+        # combine header and hexlified encrypted data in 80 char columns
+
+        tmpdata = hexlify(data)
+        tmpdata = [tmpdata[i:i+80] for i in range(0, len(tmpdata), 80)]
+
+        if not self.cipher_name:
+            raise errors.AnsibleError("the cipher must be set before adding a header")
+
+        dirty_data = HEADER + ";" + str(self.version) + ";" + self.cipher_name + "\n"
+        for l in tmpdata:
+            dirty_data += l + '\n'
+
+        return dirty_data
+
+
+    def _split_headers_and_get_unhexified_data(self, data):        
+        # used by decrypt
+
+        tmpdata = data.split('\n')
+        tmpheader = tmpdata[0].strip().split(';')
+
+        self.version = str(tmpheader[1].strip())
+        self.cipher_name = str(tmpheader[2].strip())
+        clean_data = ''.join(tmpdata[1:])
+
+        # strip out newline, join, unhex        
+        clean_data = [ x.strip() for x in clean_data ]
+        clean_data = unhexlify(''.join(clean_data))
+
+        return clean_data
+
+class VaultEditor(object):
+    # uses helper methods for write_file(self, filename, data) 
+    # to write a file so that code isn't duplicated for simple 
+    # file I/O, ditto read_file(self, filename) and launch_editor(self, filename) 
+    # ... "Don't Repeat Yourself", etc.
+
+    def __init__(self, cipher_name, password, filename):
+        # instantiates a member variable for VaultLib
+        self.cipher_name = cipher_name
+        self.password = password
+        self.filename = filename
+
+    def create_file(self):
         """ create a new encrypted file """
 
         if os.path.isfile(self.filename):
@@ -135,250 +156,100 @@ class Vault(object):
         # drop the user into vim on file
         EDITOR = os.environ.get('EDITOR','vim')
         call([EDITOR, self.filename])
+        tmpdata = self.read_data(self.filename)
+        this_vault = VaultLib(self.password)
+        this_vault.cipher_name = self.cipher_name
+        enc_data = this_vault.encrypt(tmpdata)
+        self.write_data(enc_data, self.filename)
 
-        self.encrypt()
-
-    def decrypt(self):
-        """ unencrypt a file inplace """
-
-        if not is_encrypted(self.filename):
-            raise errors.AnsibleError("%s is not encrypted" % self.filename)
-
-        # set cipher based on file header
-        self.eval_header()
-
-        # decrypt it
-        data = self._decrypt_to_string()
-
-        # verify sha and then strip it out
-        if not self._verify_decryption(data):
-            raise errors.AnsibleError("decryption of %s failed" % self.filename)
-        this_sha, clean_data = self._strip_sha(data)
+    def decrypt_file(self):
+        if not os.path.isfile(self.filename):
+            raise errors.AnsibleError("%s does not exist" % self.filename)
         
-        # write back to original file
-        f = open(self.filename, "wb")
-        f.write(clean_data)
-        f.close()
-
-    def edit(self, filename=None, password=None, cipher=None, version=None):
-
-        if not is_encrypted(self.filename):
+        tmpdata = self.read_data(self.filename)
+        this_vault = VaultLib(self.password)
+        if this_vault.is_encrypted(tmpdata):
+            dec_data = this_vault.decrypt(tmpdata)
+            self.write_data(dec_data, self.filename)
+        else:
             raise errors.AnsibleError("%s is not encrypted" % self.filename)
 
-        #decrypt to string
-        data = self._decrypt_to_string()
+    def edit_file(self):
 
-        # verify sha and then strip it out
-        if not self._verify_decryption(data):
-            raise errors.AnsibleError("decryption of %s failed" % self.filename)
-        this_sha, clean_data = self._strip_sha(data)
+        # decrypt to tmpfile
+        tmpdata = self.read_data(self.filename)
+        this_vault = VaultLib(self.password)
+        dec_data = this_vault.decrypt(tmpdata)
+        _, tmp_path = tempfile.mkstemp()
+        self.write_data(dec_data, tmp_path)
 
-        # rewrite file without sha        
-        _, in_path = tempfile.mkstemp()
-        f = open(in_path, "wb")
-        tmpdata = f.write(clean_data)
-        f.close()
-
-        # drop the user into vim on the unencrypted tmp file
+        # drop the user into vim on the tmp file
         EDITOR = os.environ.get('EDITOR','vim')
-        call([EDITOR, in_path])
+        call([EDITOR, tmp_path])
+        new_data = self.read_data(tmp_path)
 
-        f = open(in_path, "rb")
-        tmpdata = f.read()
-        f.close()
+        # create new vault and set cipher to old
+        new_vault = VaultLib(self.password)
+        new_vault.cipher_name = this_vault.cipher_name
 
-        self._string_to_encrypted_file(tmpdata, self.filename)
+        # encrypt new data a write out to tmp
+        enc_data = new_vault.encrypt(new_data)
+        self.write_data(enc_data, tmp_path)
 
+        # shuffle tmp file into place
+        self.shuffle_files(tmp_path, self.filename)
 
-    def encrypt(self):
-        """ encrypt a file inplace """
-
-        if is_encrypted(self.filename):
+    def encrypt_file(self):
+        if not os.path.isfile(self.filename):
+            raise errors.AnsibleError("%s does not exist" % self.filename)
+        
+        tmpdata = self.read_data(self.filename)
+        this_vault = VaultLib(self.password)
+        this_vault.cipher_name = self.cipher_name
+        if not this_vault.is_encrypted(tmpdata):
+            enc_data = this_vault.encrypt(tmpdata)
+            self.write_data(enc_data, self.filename)
+        else:
             raise errors.AnsibleError("%s is already encrypted" % self.filename)
 
-        #self.eval_header()
-        self.__load_cipher()
+    def rekey_file(self, new_password):
+        # decrypt 
+        tmpdata = self.read_data(self.filename)
+        this_vault = VaultLib(self.password)
+        dec_data = this_vault.decrypt(tmpdata)
 
-        # read data
-        f = open(self.filename, "rb")
+        # create new vault, set cipher to old and password to new
+        new_vault = VaultLib(new_password)
+        new_vault.cipher_name = this_vault.cipher_name
+
+        # re-encrypt data and re-write file
+        enc_data = new_vault.encrypt(dec_data)
+        self.write_data(enc_data, self.filename)
+
+    def read_data(self, filename):
+        f = open(filename, "rb")
         tmpdata = f.read()
         f.close()
+        return tmpdata
 
-        self._string_to_encrypted_file(tmpdata, self.filename)
-
-
-    def rekey(self, newpassword):
-
-        """ unencrypt file then encrypt with new password """
-
-        if not is_encrypted(self.filename):
-            raise errors.AnsibleError("%s is not encrypted" % self.filename)
-
-        # unencrypt to string with old password
-        data = self._decrypt_to_string()
-
-        # verify sha and then strip it out
-        if not self._verify_decryption(data):
-            raise errors.AnsibleError("decryption of %s failed" % self.filename)
-        this_sha, clean_data = self._strip_sha(data)
-    
-        # set password     
-        self.vault_password = newpassword
-
-        self._string_to_encrypted_file(clean_data, self.filename)
-
-
-    ###############
-    #   PRIVATE
-    ###############
-
-    def __load_cipher(self):
-
-        """ 
-        Load a cipher class by it's name
-
-        This is a lightweight "plugin" implementation to allow
-        for future support of other cipher types
-        """
-
-        whitelist = ['AES']
-
-        if self.cipher in whitelist:
-            self.cipher_obj = None
-            if self.cipher in globals():
-                this_cipher = globals()[self.cipher]
-                self.cipher_obj = this_cipher()
-            else:
-                raise errors.AnsibleError("%s cipher could not be loaded" % self.cipher)
-        else:
-            raise errors.AnsibleError("%s is not an allowed encryption cipher" % self.cipher)
-
-
-
-    def _decrypt_to_string(self):
-
-        """ decrypt file to string """
-
-        if not is_encrypted(self.filename):
-            raise errors.AnsibleError("%s is not encrypted" % self.filename)
-
-        # figure out what this is
-        self.eval_header()
-        self.__load_cipher()
-
-        # strip out header and unhex the file
-        clean_stream = self._dirty_file_to_clean_file(self.filename)
-
-        # reset pointer
-        clean_stream.seek(0)
-
-        # create a byte stream to hold unencrypted
-        dst = BytesIO()
-
-        # decrypt from src stream to dst stream
-        self.cipher_obj.decrypt(clean_stream, dst, self.vault_password)
-
-        # read data from the unencrypted stream
-        data = dst.read()
-
-        return data 
-
-    def _dirty_file_to_clean_file(self, dirty_filename):
-        """ Strip out headers from a file, unhex and write to new file"""
-
-
-        _, in_path = tempfile.mkstemp()
-        #_, out_path = tempfile.mkstemp()
-
-        # strip header from data, write rest to tmp file
-        f = open(dirty_filename, "rb")
-        tmpdata = f.readlines()
-        f.close()
-
-        tmpheader = tmpdata[0].strip()
-        tmpdata = ''.join(tmpdata[1:])
-
-        # strip out newline, join, unhex        
-        tmpdata = [ x.strip() for x in tmpdata ]
-        tmpdata = unhexlify(''.join(tmpdata))
-
-        # create and return stream
-        clean_stream = BytesIO(tmpdata)
-        return clean_stream
-
-    def _clean_stream_to_dirty_stream(self, clean_stream):
- 
-        # combine header and hexlified encrypted data in 80 char columns
-        clean_stream.seek(0)
-        tmpdata = clean_stream.read()
-        tmpdata = hexlify(tmpdata)
-        tmpdata = [tmpdata[i:i+80] for i in range(0, len(tmpdata), 80)]
-
-        dirty_data = HEADER + ";" + str(self.version) + ";" + self.cipher + "\n"
-        for l in tmpdata:
-            dirty_data += l + '\n'
-
-        dirty_stream = BytesIO(dirty_data)
-        return dirty_stream
-
-    def _string_to_encrypted_file(self, tmpdata, filename):
-
-        """ Write a string of data to a file with the format ...
-
-        HEADER;VERSION;CIPHER
-        HEX(ENCRYPTED(SHA256(STRING)+STRING))
-        """
-
-        # sha256 the data
-        this_sha = sha256(tmpdata).hexdigest()
-
-        # combine sha + data to tmpfile
-        tmpdata = this_sha + "\n" + tmpdata 
-        src_stream = BytesIO(tmpdata)
-        dst_stream = BytesIO()
-
-        # encrypt tmpfile
-        self.cipher_obj.encrypt(src_stream, dst_stream, self.password)
-
-        # hexlify tmpfile and combine with header
-        dirty_stream = self._clean_stream_to_dirty_stream(dst_stream)
-
-        if os.path.isfile(filename):
+    def write_data(self, data, filename):
+        if os.path.isfile(filename): 
             os.remove(filename)
-        
-        # write back to original file
-        dirty_stream.seek(0)
         f = open(filename, "wb")
-        f.write(dirty_stream.read())
+        f.write(data)
         f.close()
 
+    def shuffle_files(self, src, dest):
+        # overwrite dest with src
+        if os.path.isfile(dest):
+            os.remove(dest)
+        shutil.move(src, dest)
 
-    def _verify_decryption(self, data):
+########################################
+#               CIPHERS                #
+########################################
 
-        """ Split data to sha/data and check the sha """
-
-        # split the sha and other data
-        this_sha, clean_data = self._strip_sha(data)
-
-        # does the decrypted data match the sha ?
-        clean_sha = sha256(clean_data).hexdigest()
-       
-        # compare, return result 
-        if this_sha == clean_sha:
-            return True
-        else:
-            return False
-
-    def _strip_sha(self, data):
-        # is the first line a sha?
-        lines = data.split("\n")
-        this_sha = lines[0]
-
-        clean_data = '\n'.join(lines[1:])
-        return this_sha, clean_data       
-
-
-class AES(object):
+class VaultAES(object):
 
     # http://stackoverflow.com/a/16761459
 
@@ -400,18 +271,22 @@ class AES(object):
 
         return key, iv
 
-    def encrypt(self, in_file, out_file, password, key_length=32):
+    def encrypt(self, data, password, key_length=32):
 
         """ Read plaintext data from in_file and write encrypted to out_file """
 
-        bs = AES_.block_size
+        in_file = BytesIO(data)
+        in_file.seek(0)
+        out_file = BytesIO()
+
+        bs = AES.block_size
 
         # Get a block of random data. EL does not have Crypto.Random.new() 
         # so os.urandom is used for cross platform purposes
         salt = os.urandom(bs - len('Salted__'))
 
         key, iv = self.aes_derive_key_and_iv(password, salt, key_length, bs)
-        cipher = AES_.new(key, AES_.MODE_CBC, iv)
+        cipher = AES.new(key, AES.MODE_CBC, iv)
         out_file.write('Salted__' + salt)
         finished = False
         while not finished:
@@ -422,16 +297,23 @@ class AES(object):
                 finished = True
             out_file.write(cipher.encrypt(chunk))
 
-    def decrypt(self, in_file, out_file, password, key_length=32):
+        out_file.seek(0)
+        return out_file.read()
+
+    def decrypt(self, data, password, key_length=32):
 
         """ Read encrypted data from in_file and write decrypted to out_file """
 
         # http://stackoverflow.com/a/14989032
 
-        bs = AES_.block_size
+        in_file = BytesIO(data)
+        in_file.seek(0)
+        out_file = BytesIO()
+
+        bs = AES.block_size
         salt = in_file.read(bs)[len('Salted__'):]
         key, iv = self.aes_derive_key_and_iv(password, salt, key_length, bs)
-        cipher = AES_.new(key, AES_.MODE_CBC, iv)
+        cipher = AES.new(key, AES.MODE_CBC, iv)
         next_chunk = ''
         finished = False
 
@@ -444,5 +326,7 @@ class AES(object):
             out_file.write(chunk)
 
         # reset the stream pointer to the beginning
-        if hasattr(out_file, 'seek'):
-            out_file.seek(0)
+        out_file.seek(0)
+        return out_file.read()
+
+