diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/3602-fix-gitlab_project_members-improve-search-method.yml b/changelogs/fragments/3602-fix-gitlab_project_members-improve-search-method.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4d22049473
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/3602-fix-gitlab_project_members-improve-search-method.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+bugfixes:
+  - gitlab_project_members - ``get_project_id`` return the project id by matching ``full_path`` or ``name`` (https://github.com/ansible-collections/community.general/pull/3602).
diff --git a/plugins/modules/source_control/gitlab/gitlab_project_members.py b/plugins/modules/source_control/gitlab/gitlab_project_members.py
index 0ae8f4b25c..38cc7a80ec 100644
--- a/plugins/modules/source_control/gitlab/gitlab_project_members.py
+++ b/plugins/modules/source_control/gitlab/gitlab_project_members.py
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ options:
         type: str
     project:
         description:
-            - The name of the GitLab project the member is added to/removed from.
+            - The name (or full path) of the GitLab project the member is added to/removed from.
         required: true
         type: str
     gitlab_user:
@@ -118,9 +118,13 @@ class GitLabProjectMembers(object):
         self._gitlab = gl
 
     def get_project(self, project_name):
-        project_exists = self._gitlab.projects.list(search=project_name)
-        if project_exists:
-            return project_exists[0].id
+        try:
+            project_exists = self._gitlab.projects.get(project_name)
+            return project_exists.id
+        except gitlab.exceptions.GitlabGetError as e:
+            project_exists = self._gitlab.projects.list(search=project_name)
+            if project_exists:
+                return project_exists[0].id
 
     def get_user_id(self, gitlab_user):
         user_exists = self._gitlab.users.list(username=gitlab_user)