diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/cron_non_existent_file.yml b/changelogs/fragments/cron_non_existent_file.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..eeec6e6a767
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/cron_non_existent_file.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+---
+bugfixes:
+    - cron - handle FileNotFoundError and OSError exception while writing cron file (https://github.com/ansible/ansible/issues/85726).
diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/cron.py b/lib/ansible/modules/cron.py
index 325aa524beb..aa49a9f0243 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/cron.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/cron.py
@@ -311,9 +311,15 @@ class CronTab:
         if backup_file:
             fileh = open(backup_file, 'wb')
         elif self.cron_file:
-            fileh = open(self.b_cron_file, 'wb')
+            try:
+                fileh = open(self.b_cron_file, 'wb')
+            except (OSError, FileNotFoundError) as ex:
+                self.module.fail_json(msg=f'Unable to open {self.cron_file} for writing: {to_native(ex)}')
         else:
-            filed, path = tempfile.mkstemp(prefix='crontab')
+            try:
+                filed, path = tempfile.mkstemp(prefix='crontab')
+            except OSError as ex:
+                self.module.fail_json(msg=f'Unable to create temporary file for writing crontab as {ex}')
             os.chmod(path, S_IRWU_RWG_RWO)
             fileh = os.fdopen(filed, 'wb')
 
@@ -662,7 +668,10 @@ def main():
 
     # if requested make a backup before making a change
     if backup and not module.check_mode:
-        (dummy, backup_file) = tempfile.mkstemp(prefix='crontab')
+        try:
+            (dummy, backup_file) = tempfile.mkstemp(prefix='crontab')
+        except OSError as ex:
+            module.fail_json(msg=f"Unable to create temporary file for backup: {to_native(ex)}")
         crontab.write(backup_file)
 
     if env:
diff --git a/test/integration/targets/cron/tasks/main.yml b/test/integration/targets/cron/tasks/main.yml
index 45640e1e82b..4053935044d 100644
--- a/test/integration/targets/cron/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/test/integration/targets/cron/tasks/main.yml
@@ -319,3 +319,19 @@
 
   - assert:
       that: not cron_file_stats.stat.exists
+
+- name: Add cron job with invalid cron_file path
+  ansible.builtin.cron:
+    name: "Bad cron entry"
+    job: "/usr/bin/true"
+    minute: "0"
+    cron_file: "bad/file"
+    user: root
+  ignore_errors: yes
+  register: non_existent_cron_file_job
+
+- name: Check if we fail due to invalid cron_file path
+  assert:
+    that:
+      - non_existent_cron_file_job.failed
+      - "'Unable to open' in non_existent_cron_file_job.msg"