diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/monitoring/zabbix/zabbix_template.py b/lib/ansible/modules/monitoring/zabbix/zabbix_template.py
index cc76bc3d5d3..51ffb959b82 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/monitoring/zabbix/zabbix_template.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/monitoring/zabbix/zabbix_template.py
@@ -417,7 +417,8 @@ class Template(object):
             # old api version support here
             api_version = self._zapi.api_version()
             # updateExisting for application removed from zabbix api after 3.2
-            if LooseVersion(api_version) <= LooseVersion('3.2.x'):
+            if LooseVersion(api_version).version[:2] <= LooseVersion(
+                    '3.2').version:
                 update_rules['applications']['updateExisting'] = True
 
             self._zapi.configuration.import_({