diff --git a/lib/ansible/module_utils/kubevirt.py b/lib/ansible/module_utils/kubevirt.py
index be1d93a1d54..247e498b931 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/module_utils/kubevirt.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/module_utils/kubevirt.py
@@ -328,7 +328,7 @@ class KubeVirtRawModule(KubernetesRawModule):
             template_spec['domain']['cpu']['model'] = cpu_model
 
         if labels:
-            self.merge_dicts(template['metadata']['labels'], labels)
+            template['metadata']['labels'] = dict(self.merge_dicts(labels, template['metadata']['labels']))
 
         if machine_type:
             template_spec['domain']['machine']['type'] = machine_type