diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/70887_galaxy_token.yml b/changelogs/fragments/70887_galaxy_token.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..2f8d49a33e0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/70887_galaxy_token.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+minor_changes:
+- galaxy - handle token as dict while loading from yaml file (https://github.com/ansible/ansible/issues/70887).
diff --git a/lib/ansible/galaxy/token.py b/lib/ansible/galaxy/token.py
index 7231c8f9a45..52bff211aeb 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/galaxy/token.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/galaxy/token.py
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ class GalaxyToken(object):
     def _read(self):
         action = 'Opened'
         if not os.path.isfile(self.b_file):
-            # token file not found, create and chomd u+rw
+            # token file not found, create and chmod u+rw
             open(self.b_file, 'w').close()
             os.chmod(self.b_file, S_IRUSR | S_IWUSR)  # owner has +rw
             action = 'Created'
@@ -130,6 +130,10 @@ class GalaxyToken(object):
 
         display.vvv('%s %s' % (action, to_text(self.b_file)))
 
+        if config and not isinstance(config, dict):
+            display.vvv('Galaxy token file %s malformed, unable to read it' % to_text(self.b_file))
+            return {}
+
         return config or {}
 
     def set(self, token):