diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/12122-launchd-restarted-always-changed.yml b/changelogs/fragments/12122-launchd-restarted-always-changed.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ef9fe577a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/12122-launchd-restarted-always-changed.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+bugfixes:
+  - "launchd - fix ``restarted`` and ``reloaded`` states always reporting ``changed=False``
+    (https://github.com/ansible-collections/community.general/issues/6199,
+    https://github.com/ansible-collections/community.general/pull/12122)."
diff --git a/plugins/modules/launchd.py b/plugins/modules/launchd.py
index 64a1375a40..3848bf2c6f 100644
--- a/plugins/modules/launchd.py
+++ b/plugins/modules/launchd.py
@@ -507,14 +507,15 @@ def main():
     result["status"]["status_code"] = status_code
     result["status"]["error"] = err
 
+    # restarted and reloaded always perform commands unconditionally, so they always change state
     if (
-        result["status"]["current_state"] != result["status"]["previous_state"]
+        action in ("restarted", "reloaded")
+        or result["status"]["current_state"] != result["status"]["previous_state"]
         or result["status"]["current_pid"] != result["status"]["previous_pid"]
     ):
         result["changed"] = True
-    if module.check_mode:
-        if result["status"]["current_state"] != action:
-            result["changed"] = True
+    elif module.check_mode and result["status"]["current_state"] != action:
+        result["changed"] = True
     module.exit_json(**result)