diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/protect_bad_verify.yml b/changelogs/fragments/protect_bad_verify.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..82eb1e121b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/protect_bad_verify.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+bugfixes:
+ - protect against bad plugin verify method https://github.com/ansible/ansible/pull/36591
diff --git a/lib/ansible/inventory/manager.py b/lib/ansible/inventory/manager.py
index 719a333e9b..db21af6f05 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/inventory/manager.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/inventory/manager.py
@@ -257,8 +257,13 @@ class InventoryManager(object):
                 plugin_name = to_native(getattr(plugin, '_load_name', getattr(plugin, '_original_path', '')))
                 display.debug(u'Attempting to use plugin %s (%s)' % (plugin_name, plugin._original_path))
 
-                # initialize
-                if plugin.verify_file(source):
+                # initialize and figure out if plugin wants to attempt parsing this file
+                try:
+                    plugin_wants = bool(plugin.verify_file(source))
+                except Exception:
+                    plugin_wants = False
+
+                if plugin_wants:
                     try:
                         # in case plugin fails 1/2 way we dont want partial inventory
                         plugin.parse(self._inventory, self._loader, source, cache=cache)