Solvedansible json_query filter fails when using the functions "contains", "starts_with", others

ansible 2.3.1.0                                                                
  config file = /etc/ansible/ansible.cfg                                       
  configured module search path = [u'/usr/share/my_modules/']                  
  python version = 2.7.12 (default, Nov 19 2016, 06:48:10) [GCC 5.4.0 20160609]

ok: [localhost] => (item={u'interface': u'irb.1111', u'address': u'10.0.1.1/29'}) => {
    "item": {
        "address": "10.0.1.1/29",
        "interface": "irb.1111"
    }
}

The full traceback is:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/ansible/executor/task_executor.py", line 89, in run
    items = self._get_loop_items()
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/ansible/executor/task_executor.py", line 202, in _get_loop_items
    loop_terms = listify_lookup_plugin_terms(terms=self._task.loop_args, templar=templar, loader=self._loader, fail_on_undefined=True, convert_bare=False)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/ansible/utils/listify.py", line 34, in listify_lookup_plugin_terms
    terms = templar.template(terms.strip(), convert_bare=convert_bare, fail_on_undefined=fail_on_undefined)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/ansible/template/__init__.py", line 437, in template
    disable_lookups=disable_lookups,
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/ansible/template/__init__.py", line 659, in do_template
    res = j2_concat(rf)
  File "<template>", line 10, in root
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/ansible/plugins/filter/json_query.py", line 40, in json_query
    return jmespath.search(expr, data)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/jmespath/__init__.py", line 12, in search
    return parser.Parser().parse(expression).search(data, options=options)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/jmespath/parser.py", line 509, in search
    result = interpreter.visit(self.parsed, value)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/jmespath/visitor.py", line 94, in visit
    return method(node, *args, **kwargs)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/jmespath/visitor.py", line 180, in visit_filter_projection
    if self._is_true(self.visit(comparator_node, element)):
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/jmespath/visitor.py", line 94, in visit
    return method(node, *args, **kwargs)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/jmespath/visitor.py", line 171, in visit_function_expression
    return self._functions.call_function(node['value'], resolved_args)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/jmespath/functions.py", line 80, in call_function
    self._validate_arguments(resolved_args, signature, function_name)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/jmespath/functions.py", line 91, in _validate_arguments
    return self._type_check(args, signature, function_name)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/jmespath/functions.py", line 98, in _type_check
    function_name)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/jmespath/functions.py", line 113, in _type_check_single
    self._convert_to_jmespath_type(actual_typename), types)
JMESPathTypeError: In function contains(), invalid type for value: irb.1111, expected one of: ['array', 'string'], received: "unknown"

fatal: [localhost]: FAILED! => {
    "failed": true,
    "msg": "Unexpected failure during module execution.",
    "stdout": ""
}

[
  {
    "interface": "irb.1111",
    "address": "10.0.1.1/29"
  },
  {
    "interface": "irb.1114",
    "address": "10.0.2.1/29"
  },
  {
    "interface": "irb.1114",
    "address": "fe80::b/112"
  }
]

$ ansible-playbook jsonquery.yml
 [WARNING]: Host file not found: /etc/ansible/hosts                                                    
                                                                                                       
 [WARNING]: provided hosts list is empty, only localhost is available                                  
                                                                                                       
                                                                                                       
PLAY [json_query testing] *****************************************************************************
                                                                                                       
TASK [debug] ******************************************************************************************
An exception occurred during task execution. To see the full traceback, use -vvv. The error was: JMESPa
thTypeError: In function contains(), invalid type for value: irb.1111, expected one of: ['array', 'stri
ng'], received: "unknown"                                                                              
fatal: [localhost]: FAILED! => {"failed": true, "msg": "Unexpected failure during module execution.", "
stdout": ""}                                                                                           

PLAY RECAP ********************************************************************************************
localhost                  : ok=0    changed=0    unreachable=0    failed=1                            

- hosts: localhost
  gather_facts: no
  vars:
    qry1: "[?contains(foo, 'bar')]"
    qry2: "[?contains(item, '1')].cmd"
    json1:
      - foo: bar
      - foo: test
  tasks:
    - name: This fails because type(foo) = AnsibleUnicode
      debug:
        msg: "{{ json1 | json_query(qry1) }}"
      ignore_errors: yes

    - name: This works
      debug:
        msg: "{{ json1 | to_json | from_json | json_query(qry1) }}"

    - name: This generates registered facts that gets SafeWrapped
      command: echo {{ item }}
      with_sequence: count=2
      register: cmd_res
      changed_when: no

    - name: This fails because type(foo) = AnsibleUnsafeText
      debug:
        msg: "{{ cmd_res.results | json_query(qry2) }}"
      ignore_errors: yes

    - debug:
        msg: "{{ cmd_res.results | to_json | from_json | json_query(qry2) }}"