diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/42857-docker_container-working_dir.yaml b/changelogs/fragments/42857-docker_container-working_dir.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..65276f21251
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/42857-docker_container-working_dir.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+bugfixes:
+- "docker_container: fixing ``working_dir`` idempotency problem (https://github.com/ansible/ansible/pull/42857)"
diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/docker/docker_container.py b/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/docker/docker_container.py
index 7f2df7d3032..df9f3981180 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/docker/docker_container.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/docker/docker_container.py
@@ -1292,7 +1292,7 @@ class Container(DockerBaseClass):
             expected_volumes=config.get('Volumes'),
             expected_binds=host_config.get('Binds'),
             volumes_from=host_config.get('VolumesFrom'),
-            working_dir=host_config.get('WorkingDir')
+            working_dir=config.get('WorkingDir')
         )
         if self.parameters.restart_policy:
             config_mapping['restart_retries'] = restart_policy.get('MaximumRetryCount')