diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/47920-vmware_guest-handle_no_root_snapshot.yaml b/changelogs/fragments/47920-vmware_guest-handle_no_root_snapshot.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..81e613e4b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/47920-vmware_guest-handle_no_root_snapshot.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+bugfixes:
+- Handle exception when there is no snapshot available in virtual machine or template while cloning using vmware_guest.
diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/vmware/vmware_guest.py b/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/vmware/vmware_guest.py
index 3d75206f52..37d76b5bbc 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/vmware/vmware_guest.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/vmware/vmware_guest.py
@@ -2051,6 +2051,8 @@ class PyVmomiHelper(PyVmomi):
                     clonespec.customization = self.customspec
 
                 if snapshot_src is not None:
+                    if vm_obj.snapshot is None:
+                        self.module.fail_json(msg="No snapshots present for virtual machine or template [%(template)s]" % self.params)
                     snapshot = self.get_snapshots_by_name_recursively(snapshots=vm_obj.snapshot.rootSnapshotList,
                                                                       snapname=snapshot_src)
                     if len(snapshot) != 1: