diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/4755-mhexception-improvement.yml b/changelogs/fragments/4755-mhexception-improvement.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ebadb98bc5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/4755-mhexception-improvement.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+minor_changes:
+  - ModuleHelper module utils - improved ``ModuleHelperException``, using ``to_native()`` for the exception message (https://github.com/ansible-collections/community.general/pull/4755).
diff --git a/plugins/module_utils/mh/exceptions.py b/plugins/module_utils/mh/exceptions.py
index 7d1a46bb5a..2ee548ff41 100644
--- a/plugins/module_utils/mh/exceptions.py
+++ b/plugins/module_utils/mh/exceptions.py
@@ -6,17 +6,13 @@
 from __future__ import absolute_import, division, print_function
 __metaclass__ = type
 
+from ansible.module_utils.common.text.converters import to_native
+
 
 class ModuleHelperException(Exception):
-    @staticmethod
-    def _get_remove(key, kwargs):
-        if key in kwargs:
-            result = kwargs[key]
-            del kwargs[key]
-            return result
-        return None
-
-    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
-        self.msg = self._get_remove('msg', kwargs) or "Module failed with exception: {0}".format(self)
-        self.update_output = self._get_remove('update_output', kwargs) or {}
+    def __init__(self, msg, update_output=None, *args, **kwargs):
+        self.msg = to_native(msg or "Module failed with exception: {0}".format(self))
+        if update_output is None:
+            update_output = {}
+        self.update_output = update_output
         super(ModuleHelperException, self).__init__(*args)