diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/system/cron.py b/lib/ansible/modules/system/cron.py
index 78492109ad..36213092f9 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/system/cron.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/system/cron.py
@@ -727,8 +727,9 @@ def main():
                 changed = True
 
     # no changes to env/job, but existing crontab needs a terminating newline
-    if not changed and not crontab.existing.endswith(('\r', '\n')):
-        changed = True
+    if not changed:
+        if not (crontab.existing.endswith('\r') or crontab.existing.endswith('\n')):
+            changed = True
 
     res_args = dict(
         jobs = crontab.get_jobnames(),