diff --git a/ec2.yml b/ec2.yml
index 970ee9c..1285714 100644
--- a/ec2.yml
+++ b/ec2.yml
@@ -24,10 +24,10 @@
       register: ec2
     - name: Add new instance to host group
       add_host: hostname={{ item.public_ip }} groupname={{ groupname }}
-      with_items: ec2.instances
+      with_items: "{{ ec2.instances }}"
     - name: Wait for SSH to come up
       wait_for: host={{ item.public_dns_name }} port=22 delay=60 timeout=320 state=started
-      with_items: ec2.instances
+      with_items: "{{ ec2.instances }}"
 - name: configure new instance
   hosts: webservers
   sudo: yes