diff --git a/doc/source/job-content.rst b/doc/source/job-content.rst
index 414db621cd..281421421c 100644
--- a/doc/source/job-content.rst
+++ b/doc/source/job-content.rst
@@ -1222,6 +1222,30 @@ For example the following would skip retrying the build:
 
 .. _build_status:
 
+Ansible Groups
+--------------
+
+Ansible host groups may be configured via the job's :attr:`nodeset`.
+In addition to these, Zuul automatically creates a group named
+`zuul_unreachable`.  It is always present, and is empty when the job
+starts.  If any playbook encounters an unreachable host, that host is
+added to the group for all subsequent playbooks.  This can be used to
+avoid executing certain post-run playbook steps on hosts that are
+already known to be unreachable.  For example, to avoid copying logs
+from a remote host, a play might look something like:
+
+.. code-block:: yaml
+
+   - hosts: all:!zuul_unreachable
+     gather_facts: no
+     tasks:
+       - name: Copy logs
+         ...
+
+The group name `zuul_unreachable` is reserved by zuul and will
+automatically override any similarly named group defined by the
+nodeset.
+
 Build Status
 ------------
 
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/zuul_unreachable-6eff96f19b12c113.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/zuul_unreachable-6eff96f19b12c113.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..68364a479d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/zuul_unreachable-6eff96f19b12c113.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+features:
+  - |
+    When a remote host in a job is found to be unreachable, Zuul will
+    automatically add it to a new group named `zuul_unreachable` for
+    all subsequent playbooks.  This can be used to avoid running
+    certain post-run steps on hosts already known to be unreachable.
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/config/ansible-unreachable/git/org_project/playbooks/post.yaml b/tests/fixtures/config/ansible-unreachable/git/org_project/playbooks/post.yaml
index 3d5c8e7bce..7d3abea77f 100644
--- a/tests/fixtures/config/ansible-unreachable/git/org_project/playbooks/post.yaml
+++ b/tests/fixtures/config/ansible-unreachable/git/org_project/playbooks/post.yaml
@@ -1,3 +1,17 @@
+- hosts: all:!zuul_unreachable
+  gather_facts: no
+  tasks:
+    - name: Output debug statement
+      debug:
+        msg: "This host is not unreachable: {{ inventory_hostname }}"
+
+- hosts: zuul_unreachable
+  gather_facts: no
+  tasks:
+    - name: Output debug statement
+      debug:
+        msg: "This host is unreachable: {{ inventory_hostname }}"
+
 - hosts: localhost
   gather_facts: no
   tasks:
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_v3.py b/tests/unit/test_v3.py
index 1b7895b220..6565650053 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_v3.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_v3.py
@@ -8141,6 +8141,14 @@ class TestUnreachable(AnsibleZuulTestCase):
                 will_retry = f.readline()
                 expect_retry = build.name not in retried_builds
                 self.assertEqual(str(expect_retry), will_retry)
+            output_path = os.path.join(build.jobdir.root,
+                                       'work/logs/job-output.txt')
+            with open(output_path) as f:
+                job_output = f.read()
+            self.log.debug(job_output)
+            self.assertNotIn("This host is not unreachable", job_output)
+            self.assertIn("This host is unreachable: fake", job_output)
+
             retried_builds.add(build.name)
 
         conn = self.scheds.first.sched.sql.connection
diff --git a/zuul/executor/server.py b/zuul/executor/server.py
index b5e78ba292..6e39ecf945 100644
--- a/zuul/executor/server.py
+++ b/zuul/executor/server.py
@@ -919,7 +919,8 @@ def is_group_var_set(name, host, nodeset, job):
     return False
 
 
-def make_inventory_dict(nodes, nodeset, hostvars, remove_keys=None):
+def make_inventory_dict(nodes, nodeset, hostvars, unreachable_nodes,
+                        remove_keys=None):
     hosts = {}
     for node in nodes:
         node_hostvars = hostvars[node['name']].copy()
@@ -940,13 +941,11 @@ def make_inventory_dict(nodes, nodeset, hostvars, remove_keys=None):
         'all': {
             'hosts': hosts,
             'vars': all_hostvars,
+            'children': {},
         }
     }
 
     for group in nodeset.getGroups():
-        if 'children' not in inventory['all']:
-            inventory['all']['children'] = dict()
-
         group_hosts = {}
         for node_name in group.nodes:
             group_hosts[node_name] = None
@@ -956,6 +955,11 @@ def make_inventory_dict(nodes, nodeset, hostvars, remove_keys=None):
                 'hosts': group_hosts,
             }})
 
+    inventory['all']['children'].update({
+        'zuul_unreachable': {
+            'hosts': {n: None for n in unreachable_nodes}
+        }})
+
     return inventory
 
 
@@ -1068,6 +1072,7 @@ class AnsibleJob(object):
         self.frozen_hostvars = {}
         # The zuul.* vars
         self.debug_zuul_vars = {}
+        self.unreachable_nodes = set()
         self.waiting_for_semaphores = False
         try:
             max_attempts = self.arguments["zuul"]["max_attempts"]
@@ -2671,11 +2676,23 @@ class AnsibleJob(object):
                 self.original_hostvars[host['name']])
             self.original_hostvars[host['name']]['unsafe_vars'] = unsafe
 
+    def updateUnreachableHosts(self):
+        # Load the unreachable file and update our running scoreboard
+        # of unreachable hosts.
+        try:
+            for line in open(self.jobdir.job_unreachable_file):
+                node = line.strip()
+                self.log.debug("Noting %s as unreachable", node)
+                self.unreachable_nodes.add(node)
+        except Exception:
+            self.log.error("Error updating unreachable hosts:")
+
     def writeDebugInventory(self):
         # This file is unused by Zuul, but the base jobs copy it to logs
         # for debugging, so let's continue to put something there.
         inventory = make_inventory_dict(
-            self.host_list, self.nodeset, self.original_hostvars)
+            self.host_list, self.nodeset, self.original_hostvars,
+            self.unreachable_nodes)
 
         inventory['all']['vars']['zuul'] = self.debug_zuul_vars
         with open(self.jobdir.inventory, 'w') as inventory_yaml:
@@ -2701,6 +2718,7 @@ class AnsibleJob(object):
     def writeInventory(self, jobdir_playbook, hostvars):
         inventory = make_inventory_dict(
             self.host_list, self.nodeset, hostvars,
+            self.unreachable_nodes,
             remove_keys=jobdir_playbook.secrets_keys)
 
         with open(jobdir_playbook.inventory, 'w') as inventory_yaml:
@@ -3003,7 +3021,7 @@ class AnsibleJob(object):
             return (self.RESULT_TIMED_OUT, None)
         # Note: Unlike documented ansible currently wrongly returns 4 on
         # unreachable so we have the zuul_unreachable callback module that
-        # creates the file job-output.unreachable in case there were
+        # creates the file nodes.unreachable in case there were
         # unreachable nodes. This can be removed once ansible returns a
         # distinct value for unreachable.
         # TODO: Investigate whether the unreachable callback can be
@@ -3012,6 +3030,7 @@ class AnsibleJob(object):
         if ret == 3 or os.path.exists(self.jobdir.job_unreachable_file):
             # AnsibleHostUnreachable: We had a network issue connecting to
             # our zuul-worker.
+            self.updateUnreachableHosts()
             return (self.RESULT_UNREACHABLE, None)
         elif ret == -9:
             # Received abort request.