diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/3266-vmid-existing-target-clone.yml b/changelogs/fragments/3266-vmid-existing-target-clone.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5ff59f5311
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/3266-vmid-existing-target-clone.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+bugfixes:
+  - proxmox_kvm - clone operation should return the VMID of the target VM and not that of the source VM.
+    This was failing when the target VM with the chosen name already existed (https://github.com/ansible-collections/community.general/pull/3266).
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/plugins/modules/cloud/misc/proxmox_kvm.py b/plugins/modules/cloud/misc/proxmox_kvm.py
index 159968ce6e..25b29b369b 100644
--- a/plugins/modules/cloud/misc/proxmox_kvm.py
+++ b/plugins/modules/cloud/misc/proxmox_kvm.py
@@ -1201,8 +1201,9 @@ def main():
             module.fail_json(vmid=vmid, msg='VM with vmid = %s does not exist in cluster' % vmid)
 
         # Ensure the choosen VM name doesn't already exist when cloning
-        if get_vmid(proxmox, name):
-            module.exit_json(changed=False, vmid=vmid, msg="VM with name <%s> already exists" % name)
+        existing_vmid = get_vmid(proxmox, name)
+        if existing_vmid:
+            module.exit_json(changed=False, vmid=existing_vmid[0], msg="VM with name <%s> already exists" % name)
 
         # Ensure the choosen VM id doesn't already exist when cloning
         if get_vm(proxmox, newid):