diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/11149-rv-exception.yml b/changelogs/fragments/11149-rv-exception.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3ca5595297
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/11149-rv-exception.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+minor_changes:
+  - rundeck module utils - improve handling the return value ``exception``. It now contains the full stack trace of the exception, while the message is included in ``msg`` (https://github.com/ansible-collections/community.general/pull/11149).
+  - vmadm - in case of failure, the module no longer returns the stderr output as ``exception``, but instead as ``stderr``. Other information (``stdout``, ``rc``) is now also returned (https://github.com/ansible-collections/community.general/pull/11149).
diff --git a/plugins/module_utils/rundeck.py b/plugins/module_utils/rundeck.py
index dca79639be..a9a213446e 100644
--- a/plugins/module_utils/rundeck.py
+++ b/plugins/module_utils/rundeck.py
@@ -5,9 +5,9 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import json
+import traceback
 
 from ansible.module_utils.urls import fetch_url, url_argument_spec
-from ansible.module_utils.common.text.converters import to_native
 
 
 def api_argument_spec():
@@ -82,6 +82,10 @@ def api_request(module, endpoint, data=None, method="GET", content_type="applica
             json_response = json.loads(content)
             return json_response, info
     except AttributeError as error:
-        module.fail_json(msg="Rundeck API request error", exception=to_native(error), execution_info=info)
+        module.fail_json(
+            msg=f"Rundeck API request error: {error}", exception=traceback.format_exc(), execution_info=info
+        )
     except ValueError as error:
-        module.fail_json(msg="No valid JSON response", exception=to_native(error), execution_info=content)
+        module.fail_json(
+            msg=f"No valid JSON response: {error}", exception=traceback.format_exc(), execution_info=content
+        )
diff --git a/plugins/modules/vmadm.py b/plugins/modules/vmadm.py
index f657e9c20c..740ed91934 100644
--- a/plugins/modules/vmadm.py
+++ b/plugins/modules/vmadm.py
@@ -361,7 +361,7 @@ def get_vm_prop(module, uuid, prop):
     (rc, stdout, stderr) = module.run_command(cmd)
 
     if rc != 0:
-        module.fail_json(msg=f"Could not perform lookup of {prop} on {uuid}", exception=stderr)
+        module.fail_json(msg=f"Could not perform lookup of {prop} on {uuid}", rc=rc, stdout=stdout, stderr=stderr)
 
     try:
         stdout_json = json.loads(stdout)
@@ -384,7 +384,7 @@ def get_vm_uuid(module, alias):
     (rc, stdout, stderr) = module.run_command(cmd)
 
     if rc != 0:
-        module.fail_json(msg=f"Could not retrieve UUID of {alias}", exception=stderr)
+        module.fail_json(msg=f"Could not retrieve UUID of {alias}", rc=rc, stdout=stdout, stderr=stderr)
 
     # If no VM was found matching the given alias, we get back an empty array.
     # That is not an error condition as we might be explicitly checking for its
@@ -409,7 +409,7 @@ def get_all_vm_uuids(module):
     (rc, stdout, stderr) = module.run_command(cmd)
 
     if rc != 0:
-        module.fail_json(msg="Failed to get VMs list", exception=stderr)
+        module.fail_json(msg="Failed to get VMs list", rc=rc, stdout=stdout, stderr=stderr)
 
     try:
         stdout_json = json.loads(stdout)
@@ -421,11 +421,11 @@ def get_all_vm_uuids(module):
 def new_vm(module, uuid, vm_state):
     payload_file = create_payload(module, uuid)
 
-    (rc, dummy, stderr) = vmadm_create_vm(module, payload_file)
+    (rc, stdout, stderr) = vmadm_create_vm(module, payload_file)
 
     if rc != 0:
         changed = False
-        module.fail_json(msg="Could not create VM", exception=stderr)
+        module.fail_json(msg="Could not create VM", rc=rc, stdout=stdout, stderr=stderr)
     else:
         changed = True
         # 'vmadm create' returns all output to stderr...