diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/2924-npm-fix-package-json.yml b/changelogs/fragments/2924-npm-fix-package-json.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ce4a416cf7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/2924-npm-fix-package-json.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+bugfixes:
+  - npm - correctly handle cases where a dependency does not have a ``version`` property because it is either missing or invalid
+    (https://github.com/ansible-collections/community.general/issues/2917).
diff --git a/plugins/modules/packaging/language/npm.py b/plugins/modules/packaging/language/npm.py
index 5a48468970..6328768781 100644
--- a/plugins/modules/packaging/language/npm.py
+++ b/plugins/modules/packaging/language/npm.py
@@ -216,7 +216,6 @@ class Npm(object):
             self.module.fail_json(msg="Failed to parse NPM output with error %s" % to_native(e))
         if 'dependencies' in data:
             for dep, props in data['dependencies'].items():
-                dep_version = dep + '@' + str(props['version'])
 
                 if 'missing' in props and props['missing']:
                     missing.append(dep)
@@ -224,7 +223,9 @@ class Npm(object):
                     missing.append(dep)
                 else:
                     installed.append(dep)
-                    installed.append(dep_version)
+                    if 'version' in props and props['version']:
+                        dep_version = dep + '@' + str(props['version'])
+                        installed.append(dep_version)
             if self.name_version and self.name_version not in installed:
                 missing.append(self.name)
         # Named dependency not installed
diff --git a/tests/unit/plugins/modules/packaging/language/test_npm.py b/tests/unit/plugins/modules/packaging/language/test_npm.py
index abdacc6aef..89de549915 100644
--- a/tests/unit/plugins/modules/packaging/language/test_npm.py
+++ b/tests/unit/plugins/modules/packaging/language/test_npm.py
@@ -52,6 +52,25 @@ class NPMModuleTestCase(ModuleTestCase):
             call(['/testbin/npm', 'install', '--global', 'coffee-script'], check_rc=True, cwd=None),
         ])
 
+    def test_present_missing(self):
+        set_module_args({
+            'name': 'coffee-script',
+            'global': 'true',
+            'state': 'present',
+        })
+        self.module_main_command.side_effect = [
+            (0, '{"dependencies": {"coffee-script": {"missing" : true}}}', ''),
+            (0, '{}', ''),
+        ]
+
+        result = self.module_main(AnsibleExitJson)
+
+        self.assertTrue(result['changed'])
+        self.module_main_command.assert_has_calls([
+            call(['/testbin/npm', 'list', '--json', '--long', '--global'], check_rc=False, cwd=None),
+            call(['/testbin/npm', 'install', '--global', 'coffee-script'], check_rc=True, cwd=None),
+        ])
+
     def test_present_version(self):
         set_module_args({
             'name': 'coffee-script',