diff --git a/test/units/module_utils/basic/test_set_mode_if_different.py b/test/units/module_utils/basic/test_set_mode_if_different.py
index ac74a6f06ee..0c771746eb1 100644
--- a/test/units/module_utils/basic/test_set_mode_if_different.py
+++ b/test/units/module_utils/basic/test_set_mode_if_different.py
@@ -80,7 +80,8 @@ def _check_mode_unchanged_when_already_0660(self, mode):
     # 0660 mode work.  It cannot be used to check that setting a mode that is
     # not equivalent to 0660 works.
     with patch('os.lstat', side_effect=[self.mock_stat2, self.mock_stat2, self.mock_stat2]) as m_lstat:
-        self.assertEqual(self.am.set_mode_if_different('/path/to/file', mode, False), False)
+        with patch('os.path.exists', return_value=True):
+            self.assertEqual(self.am.set_mode_if_different('/path/to/file', mode, False), False)
 
 
 SYNONYMS_0660 = (