diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/10955-pritunl_user-null-missing-params.yaml b/changelogs/fragments/10955-pritunl_user-null-missing-params.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..03aad70fb3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/10955-pritunl_user-null-missing-params.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+bugfixes:
+  - "pritunl_user - improve resilience when comparing user parameters if remote fields are ``null`` or missing. List parameters (``groups``, ``mac_addresses``) now safely default to empty lists for comparison and avoids ``KeyError`` issues (https://github.com/ansible-collections/community.general/issues/10954, https://github.com/ansible-collections/community.general/pull/10955)."
diff --git a/plugins/modules/pritunl_user.py b/plugins/modules/pritunl_user.py
index c8cc9ea9c6..3a90910ad5 100644
--- a/plugins/modules/pritunl_user.py
+++ b/plugins/modules/pritunl_user.py
@@ -210,16 +210,18 @@ def add_or_update_pritunl_user(module):
         for key in user_params.keys():
             # When a param is not specified grab existing ones to prevent from changing it with the PUT request
             if user_params[key] is None:
-                user_params[key] = users[0][key]
+                user_params[key] = users[0].get(key)
 
             # 'groups' and 'mac_addresses' are list comparison
             if key == "groups" or key == "mac_addresses":
-                if set(users[0][key]) != set(user_params[key]):
+                remote_list = users[0].get(key) or []
+                local_list = user_params[key] or []
+                if set(remote_list) != set(local_list):
                     user_params_changed = True
 
             # otherwise it is either a boolean or a string
             else:
-                if users[0][key] != user_params[key]:
+                if users[0].get(key) != user_params[key]:
                     user_params_changed = True
 
         # Trigger a PUT on the API to update the current user if settings have changed