diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/54298-openssl_certificate-remove.yaml b/changelogs/fragments/54298-openssl_certificate-remove.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9ccfd52e7e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/54298-openssl_certificate-remove.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+bugfixes:
+- "openssl_certificate - fix ``state=absent``."
diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/crypto/openssl_certificate.py b/lib/ansible/modules/crypto/openssl_certificate.py
index 4bf6a1af6e..490a873978 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/crypto/openssl_certificate.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/crypto/openssl_certificate.py
@@ -530,6 +530,26 @@ class Certificate(crypto_utils.OpenSSLObject):
         return True
 
 
+class CertificateAbsent(Certificate):
+    def __init__(self, module):
+        super(CertificateAbsent, self).__init__(module)
+
+    def generate(self, module):
+        pass
+
+    def dump(self, check_mode=False):
+        # Use only for absent
+
+        result = {
+            'changed': self.changed,
+            'filename': self.path,
+            'privatekey': self.privatekey_path,
+            'csr': self.csr_path
+        }
+
+        return result
+
+
 class SelfSignedCertificate(Certificate):
     """Generate the self-signed certificate."""
 
@@ -1088,9 +1108,6 @@ def main():
         except AttributeError:
             module.fail_json(msg='You need to have PyOpenSSL>=0.15')
 
-    if module.params['provider'] != 'assertonly' and module.params['csr_path'] is None:
-        module.fail_json(msg='csr_path is required when provider is not assertonly')
-
     base_dir = os.path.dirname(module.params['path']) or '.'
     if not os.path.isdir(base_dir):
         module.fail_json(
@@ -1098,16 +1115,23 @@ def main():
             msg='The directory %s does not exist or the file is not a directory' % base_dir
         )
 
-    provider = module.params['provider']
+    if module.params['state'] == 'absent':
+        certificate = CertificateAbsent(module)
 
-    if provider == 'selfsigned':
-        certificate = SelfSignedCertificate(module)
-    elif provider == 'acme':
-        certificate = AcmeCertificate(module)
-    elif provider == 'ownca':
-        certificate = OwnCACertificate(module)
     else:
-        certificate = AssertOnlyCertificate(module)
+        if module.params['provider'] != 'assertonly' and module.params['csr_path'] is None:
+            module.fail_json(msg='csr_path is required when provider is not assertonly')
+
+        provider = module.params['provider']
+
+        if provider == 'selfsigned':
+            certificate = SelfSignedCertificate(module)
+        elif provider == 'acme':
+            certificate = AcmeCertificate(module)
+        elif provider == 'ownca':
+            certificate = OwnCACertificate(module)
+        else:
+            certificate = AssertOnlyCertificate(module)
 
     if module.params['state'] == 'present':
 
diff --git a/test/integration/targets/openssl_certificate/tasks/main.yml b/test/integration/targets/openssl_certificate/tasks/main.yml
index b70dd8b3e8..23bee89640 100644
--- a/test/integration/targets/openssl_certificate/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/test/integration/targets/openssl_certificate/tasks/main.yml
@@ -8,4 +8,6 @@
 
     - import_tasks: ownca.yml
 
+    - import_tasks: removal.yml
+
   when: pyopenssl_version.stdout is version('0.15', '>=')
diff --git a/test/integration/targets/openssl_certificate/tasks/removal.yml b/test/integration/targets/openssl_certificate/tasks/removal.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..bb65d24747
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/integration/targets/openssl_certificate/tasks/removal.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+---
+- name: (Removal) Generate privatekey
+  openssl_privatekey:
+    path: '{{ output_dir }}/removal_privatekey.pem'
+
+- name: (Removal) Generate CSR
+  openssl_csr:
+    path: '{{ output_dir }}/removal_csr.csr'
+    privatekey_path: '{{ output_dir }}/removal_privatekey.pem'
+
+- name: (Removal) Generate selfsigned certificate
+  openssl_certificate:
+    path: '{{ output_dir }}/removal_cert.pem'
+    csr_path: '{{ output_dir }}/removal_csr.csr'
+    privatekey_path: '{{ output_dir }}/removal_privatekey.pem'
+    provider: selfsigned
+    selfsigned_digest: sha256
+
+- name: "(Removal) Check that file is not gone"
+  stat:
+    path: "{{ output_dir }}/removal_cert.pem"
+  register: removal_1_prestat
+
+- name: "(Removal) Remove certificate"
+  openssl_certificate:
+    path: "{{ output_dir }}/removal_cert.pem"
+    state: absent
+  register: removal_1
+
+- name: "(Removal) Check that file is gone"
+  stat:
+    path: "{{ output_dir }}/removal_cert.pem"
+  register: removal_1_poststat
+
+- name: "(Removal) Remove certificate (idempotent)"
+  openssl_certificate:
+    path: "{{ output_dir }}/removal_cert.pem"
+    state: absent
+  register: removal_2
+
+- name: (Removal) Ensure removal worked
+  assert:
+    that:
+    - removal_1_prestat.stat.exists
+    - removal_1 is changed
+    - not removal_1_poststat.stat.exists
+    - removal_2 is not changed