diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/3822-ip_netns-run-list.yaml b/changelogs/fragments/3822-ip_netns-run-list.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7bbcb59277
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/3822-ip_netns-run-list.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+minor_changes:
+    - ip_netns - calling ``run_command`` with arguments as ``list`` instead of ``str`` (https://github.com/ansible-collections/community.general/pull/3822).
diff --git a/plugins/modules/net_tools/ip_netns.py b/plugins/modules/net_tools/ip_netns.py
index 700f0a17bd..00f1112bc0 100644
--- a/plugins/modules/net_tools/ip_netns.py
+++ b/plugins/modules/net_tools/ip_netns.py
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ class Namespace(object):
 
     def exists(self):
         '''Check if the namespace already exists'''
-        rc, out, err = self.module.run_command('ip netns list')
+        rc, out, err = self.module.run_command(['ip', 'netns', 'list'])
         if rc != 0:
             self.module.fail_json(msg=to_text(err))
         return self.name in out