diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/49987-certificate_complete_chain-error.yml b/changelogs/fragments/49987-certificate_complete_chain-error.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..07d5d72d31b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/49987-certificate_complete_chain-error.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+bugfixes:
+- "certificate_complete_chain - fix behavior when invalid file is parsed while reading intermediate or root certificates."
diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/crypto/certificate_complete_chain.py b/lib/ansible/modules/crypto/certificate_complete_chain.py
index 0d9222d4113..3036b708982 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/crypto/certificate_complete_chain.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/crypto/certificate_complete_chain.py
@@ -230,6 +230,7 @@ def load_PEM_list(module, path, fail_on_error=True):
             module.fail_json(msg=msg)
         else:
             module.warn(msg)
+            return []
 
 
 class CertificateSet(object):