diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/11933-ipa-group-external-no-fix.yml b/changelogs/fragments/11933-ipa-group-external-no-fix.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..dfeabcdbff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/11933-ipa-group-external-no-fix.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+bugfixes:
+  - "ipa_group - fix idempotency when ``external: false`` on an existing non-external group (https://github.com/ansible-collections/community.general/issues/5061, https://github.com/ansible-collections/community.general/pull/11933)."
diff --git a/plugins/modules/ipa_group.py b/plugins/modules/ipa_group.py
index 5d9c5d2aba..d3b84e0a90 100644
--- a/plugins/modules/ipa_group.py
+++ b/plugins/modules/ipa_group.py
@@ -238,7 +238,8 @@ def get_group_diff(client, ipa_group, module_group):
         del module_group["nonposix"]
 
     if "external" in module_group:
-        if module_group["external"] and "ipaexternalgroup" in ipa_group.get("objectclass"):
+        is_external_in_ipa = "ipaexternalgroup" in ipa_group.get("objectclass", [])
+        if module_group["external"] == is_external_in_ipa:
             del module_group["external"]
 
     return client.get_diff(ipa_data=ipa_group, module_data=module_group)