diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/8796-gitlab-access-token-check-mode.yml b/changelogs/fragments/8796-gitlab-access-token-check-mode.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6585584fac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/8796-gitlab-access-token-check-mode.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+bugfixes:
+  - gitlab_group_access_token - fix crash in check mode caused by attempted access to a newly created access token (https://github.com/ansible-collections/community.general/pull/8796).
+  - gitlab_project_access_token - fix crash in check mode caused by attempted access to a newly created access token (https://github.com/ansible-collections/community.general/pull/8796).
diff --git a/plugins/modules/gitlab_group_access_token.py b/plugins/modules/gitlab_group_access_token.py
index 85bba205db..1db7414081 100644
--- a/plugins/modules/gitlab_group_access_token.py
+++ b/plugins/modules/gitlab_group_access_token.py
@@ -313,7 +313,10 @@ def main():
                     module.exit_json(changed=True, msg="Successfully recreated access token", access_token=gitlab_access_token.access_token_object._attrs)
         else:
             gitlab_access_token.create_access_token(group, {'name': name, 'scopes': scopes, 'access_level': access_level, 'expires_at': expires_at})
-            module.exit_json(changed=True, msg="Successfully created access token", access_token=gitlab_access_token.access_token_object._attrs)
+            if module.check_mode:
+                module.exit_json(changed=True, msg="Successfully created access token", access_token={})
+            else:
+                module.exit_json(changed=True, msg="Successfully created access token", access_token=gitlab_access_token.access_token_object._attrs)
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
diff --git a/plugins/modules/gitlab_project_access_token.py b/plugins/modules/gitlab_project_access_token.py
index e692a30577..9bfbc51cc7 100644
--- a/plugins/modules/gitlab_project_access_token.py
+++ b/plugins/modules/gitlab_project_access_token.py
@@ -311,7 +311,10 @@ def main():
                     module.exit_json(changed=True, msg="Successfully recreated access token", access_token=gitlab_access_token.access_token_object._attrs)
         else:
             gitlab_access_token.create_access_token(project, {'name': name, 'scopes': scopes, 'access_level': access_level, 'expires_at': expires_at})
-            module.exit_json(changed=True, msg="Successfully created access token", access_token=gitlab_access_token.access_token_object._attrs)
+            if module.check_mode:
+                module.exit_json(changed=True, msg="Successfully created access token", access_token={})
+            else:
+                module.exit_json(changed=True, msg="Successfully created access token", access_token=gitlab_access_token.access_token_object._attrs)
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':