diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/fix-lookup-password-lock-acquisition.yml b/changelogs/fragments/fix-lookup-password-lock-acquisition.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..9152917a53b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/fix-lookup-password-lock-acquisition.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+bugfixes:
+  - password lookup - fix acquiring the lock when human-readable FileExistsError error message is not English.
diff --git a/lib/ansible/plugins/lookup/password.py b/lib/ansible/plugins/lookup/password.py
index 84894e21e9a..73b34891145 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/plugins/lookup/password.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/plugins/lookup/password.py
@@ -126,6 +126,7 @@ _raw:
   elements: str
 """
 
+import contextlib
 import os
 import string
 import time
@@ -269,15 +270,12 @@ def _get_lock(b_path):
     b_pathdir = os.path.dirname(b_path)
     lockfile_name = to_bytes("%s.ansible_lockfile" % hashlib.sha1(b_path).hexdigest())
     lockfile = os.path.join(b_pathdir, lockfile_name)
-    if not os.path.exists(lockfile) and b_path != to_bytes('/dev/null'):
-        try:
-            makedirs_safe(b_pathdir, mode=0o700)
+    if b_path != b'/dev/null':
+        makedirs_safe(b_pathdir, mode=0o700)
+        with contextlib.suppress(FileExistsError):
             fd = os.open(lockfile, os.O_CREAT | os.O_EXCL)
             os.close(fd)
             first_process = True
-        except OSError as e:
-            if e.strerror != 'File exists':
-                raise
 
     counter = 0
     # if the lock is got by other process, wait until it's released
diff --git a/test/units/plugins/lookup/test_password.py b/test/units/plugins/lookup/test_password.py
index 46c63db6032..cd123e88c91 100644
--- a/test/units/plugins/lookup/test_password.py
+++ b/test/units/plugins/lookup/test_password.py
@@ -466,11 +466,16 @@ class TestLookupModuleWithoutPasslib(BaseTestLookupModule):
     @patch('time.sleep')
     def test_lock_been_held(self, mock_sleep):
         # pretend the lock file is here
-        password.os.path.exists = lambda x: True
-        with pytest.raises(AnsibleError):
-            with patch.object(builtins, 'open', mock_open(read_data=b'hunter42 salt=87654321\n')) as m:
-                # should timeout here
-                self.password_lookup.run([u'/path/to/somewhere chars=anything'], None)
+        def _already_exists(*args, **kwargs):
+            raise FileExistsError("The lock is busy, wait and try again.")
+
+        with (
+            pytest.raises(AnsibleError, match='^Password lookup cannot get the lock in 7 seconds.*'),
+            patch.object(password.os, 'open', _already_exists),
+            patch.object(password.os.path, 'exists', lambda *args, **kwargs: True),
+        ):
+            # should timeout here
+            self.password_lookup.run([u'/path/to/somewhere chars=anything'], None)
 
     def test_lock_not_been_held(self):
         # pretend now there is password file but no lock