diff --git a/src/awx_plugins/credentials/aws_assumerole.py b/src/awx_plugins/credentials/aws_assumerole.py
index ba69d24b0a..58d216369b 100644
--- a/src/awx_plugins/credentials/aws_assumerole.py
+++ b/src/awx_plugins/credentials/aws_assumerole.py
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ def aws_assumerole_backend(
     )
     credential_key = credential_key_hash.hexdigest()
 
-    credentials = _aws_cred_cache.get(credential_key, None)
+    credentials = _aws_cred_cache.get(credential_key, {})
 
     # If there are no credentials for this user/ARN *or* the credentials
     # we have in the cache have expired, then we need to contact AWS again.
diff --git a/tests/credential_plugins_test.py b/tests/credential_plugins_test.py
index e7dc0017dd..34c61becf6 100644
--- a/tests/credential_plugins_test.py
+++ b/tests/credential_plugins_test.py
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ def test_aws_assumerole_identifier(
     def mock_getcreds(
             access_key: str | None,
             secret_key: str | None,
-            role_arn: str | None,
+            role_arn: str,
             external_id: int,
     ) -> dict:
         return {