diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/1848-fix-vm-reconfiguration-with-enabled-vbs.yml b/changelogs/fragments/1848-fix-vm-reconfiguration-with-enabled-vbs.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ae9f7e8ce0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/1848-fix-vm-reconfiguration-with-enabled-vbs.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+minor_changes:
+  - vmware_guest - Fix failure of vm reconfiguration with enabled virt_based_security
+    (https://github.com/ansible-collections/community.vmware/pull/1848).
diff --git a/plugins/modules/vmware_guest.py b/plugins/modules/vmware_guest.py
index 213cc1cc4a..9b9b034d80 100644
--- a/plugins/modules/vmware_guest.py
+++ b/plugins/modules/vmware_guest.py
@@ -1719,7 +1719,7 @@ def configure_hardware_params(self, vm_obj):
 
         virt_based_security = self.params['hardware']['virt_based_security']
         if virt_based_security is not None:
-            if vm_obj is None or virt_based_security != self.configspec.flags.vbsEnabled:
+            if vm_obj is None or virt_based_security != vm_obj.config.flags.vbsEnabled:
                 self.change_detected = True
                 if self.configspec.flags is None:
                     self.configspec.flags = vim.vm.FlagInfo()