diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/10566-merge_variables.yml b/changelogs/fragments/10566-merge_variables.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c0de6dd845
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/10566-merge_variables.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+bugfixes:
+  - "merge_variables lookup plugin - avoid deprecated functionality from ansible-core 2.19 (https://github.com/ansible-collections/community.general/pull/10566)."
diff --git a/plugins/lookup/merge_variables.py b/plugins/lookup/merge_variables.py
index ffe76c3ea0..aff70f9799 100644
--- a/plugins/lookup/merge_variables.py
+++ b/plugins/lookup/merge_variables.py
@@ -193,8 +193,8 @@ class LookupModule(LookupBase):
             result = initial_value
 
         for var_name in var_merge_names:
-            with self._templar.set_temporary_context(available_variables=variables):  # tmp. switch renderer to context of current variables
-                var_value = self._templar.template(variables[var_name])  # Render jinja2 templates
+            temp_templar = self._templar.copy_with_new_env(available_variables=variables)  # tmp. switch renderer to context of current variables
+            var_value = temp_templar.template(variables[var_name])  # Render jinja2 templates
             var_type = _verify_and_get_type(var_value)
 
             if prev_var_type is None: