diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/2923-archive-remove-bugfix.yml b/changelogs/fragments/2923-archive-remove-bugfix.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4bef5ef459
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/2923-archive-remove-bugfix.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+---
+bugfixes:
+  - archive - fixed task failure when using the ``remove`` option with a ``path`` containing nested files for
+    ``format``s other than ``zip`` (https://github.com/ansible-collections/community.general/issues/2919).
diff --git a/plugins/modules/files/archive.py b/plugins/modules/files/archive.py
index 5cdd6630d1..a2d3376613 100644
--- a/plugins/modules/files/archive.py
+++ b/plugins/modules/files/archive.py
@@ -399,13 +399,14 @@ class Archive(object):
 
     def remove_targets(self):
         for path in self.successes:
-            try:
-                if os.path.isdir(path):
-                    shutil.rmtree(path)
-                else:
-                    os.remove(path)
-            except OSError:
-                self.errors.append(_to_native(path))
+            if os.path.exists(path):
+                try:
+                    if os.path.isdir(path):
+                        shutil.rmtree(path)
+                    else:
+                        os.remove(path)
+                except OSError:
+                    self.errors.append(_to_native(path))
         for path in self.paths:
             try:
                 if os.path.isdir(path):
diff --git a/tests/integration/targets/archive/tasks/remove.yml b/tests/integration/targets/archive/tasks/remove.yml
index 9600eb9f6d..9f085e901a 100644
--- a/tests/integration/targets/archive/tasks/remove.yml
+++ b/tests/integration/targets/archive/tasks/remove.yml
@@ -148,7 +148,39 @@
 - name: verify that excluded sub file is still present
   file: path={{ output_dir }}/tmpdir/sub/subfile.txt state=file
 
-- name: remove temporary directory
+- name: prep our files in tmpdir again
+  copy: src={{ item }} dest={{ output_dir }}/tmpdir/{{ item }}
+  with_items:
+    - foo.txt
+    - bar.txt
+    - empty.txt
+    - sub
+    - sub/subfile.txt
+
+- name: archive using gz and remove src directory
+  archive:
+    path:
+      - "{{ output_dir }}/tmpdir/"
+    dest: "{{ output_dir }}/archive_remove_05.gz"
+    format: gz
+    remove: yes
+    exclude_path: "{{ output_dir }}/tmpdir/sub/subfile.txt"
+  register: archive_remove_result_05
+
+- name: verify that the files archived
+  file: path={{ output_dir }}/archive_remove_05.gz state=file
+
+- name: Verify source files were removed
   file:
     path: "{{ output_dir }}/tmpdir"
     state: absent
+  register: archive_source_file_removal_05
+
+- name: Verify that task status is success
+  assert:
+    that:
+      - archive_remove_result_05 is success
+      - archive_source_file_removal_05 is not changed
+
+- name: remove our gz
+  file: path="{{ output_dir }}/archive_remove_05.gz" state=absent