diff --git a/changelog/55269.fixed b/changelog/55269.fixed
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..42543738580
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/55269.fixed
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Fixed malformed state return when testing file.managed with unavailable source file
diff --git a/changelog/61814.fixed b/changelog/61814.fixed
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6d06855ebb8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/61814.fixed
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Fixed malformed state return when merge-serializing to an improperly formatted file
diff --git a/salt/states/file.py b/salt/states/file.py
index e8eb4575add..41a550ff35f 100644
--- a/salt/states/file.py
+++ b/salt/states/file.py
@@ -3139,6 +3139,7 @@ def managed(
 
             if isinstance(ret["changes"], tuple):
                 ret["result"], ret["comment"] = ret["changes"]
+                ret["changes"] = {}
             elif ret["changes"]:
                 ret["result"] = None
                 ret["comment"] = "The file {} is set to be changed".format(name)
@@ -8004,7 +8005,7 @@ def serialize(
                     ret["comment"] = "Failed to deserialize existing data: {}".format(
                         exc
                     )
-                    return False
+                    return ret
 
             if existing_data is not None:
                 merged_data = salt.utils.dictupdate.merge_recurse(
diff --git a/tests/integration/states/test_file.py b/tests/integration/states/test_file.py
index c5c9bdf21a5..0cb26b7951d 100644
--- a/tests/integration/states/test_file.py
+++ b/tests/integration/states/test_file.py
@@ -845,6 +845,26 @@ class FileTest(ModuleCase, SaltReturnAssertsMixin):
             # Check that we identified a hash mismatch
             self.assertIn("does not exist", ret["comment"])
 
+    def test_test_managed_issue_55269(self):
+        """
+        Make sure that we exit gracefully in case a local source does not exist
+        when file.managed is run with test=1.
+        """
+        name = self.tmp_dir / "local_source_does_not_exist_testing"
+        self.addCleanup(salt.utils.files.safe_rm, str(name))
+        local_path = os.path.join(RUNTIME_VARS.BASE_FILES, "grail", "scene99")
+
+        for proto in ("file://", ""):
+            source = proto + local_path
+            log.debug("Trying source %s", source)
+            ret = self.run_state(
+                "file.managed", name=str(name), source=source, test=True
+            )
+            self.assertSaltFalseReturn(ret)
+            ret = ret[next(iter(ret))]
+            self.assertFalse(ret["changes"])
+            self.assertIn("does not exist".format(), ret["comment"])
+
     def test_managed_unicode_jinja_with_tojson_filter(self):
         """
         Using {{ varname }} with a list or dictionary which contains unicode
diff --git a/tests/pytests/unit/states/file/test_filestate.py b/tests/pytests/unit/states/file/test_filestate.py
index ecbca012f59..6fb50a817bf 100644
--- a/tests/pytests/unit/states/file/test_filestate.py
+++ b/tests/pytests/unit/states/file/test_filestate.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ import salt.utils.platform
 import salt.utils.win_functions
 import salt.utils.yaml
 from salt.exceptions import CommandExecutionError
-from tests.support.mock import MagicMock, Mock, patch
+from tests.support.mock import MagicMock, Mock, mock_open, patch
 
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -536,6 +536,26 @@ def test_serialize_into_managed_file():
             ret.update({"comment": comt, "result": None})
             assert filestate.serialize(name, dataset=True, formatter="python") == ret
 
+    # merge_if_exists deserialization error
+    mock_exception = MagicMock(side_effect=TypeError("test"))
+    with patch.object(os.path, "isfile", mock_t):
+        with patch.dict(
+            filestate.__serializers__,
+            {
+                "exception.serialize": mock_exception,
+                "exception.deserialize": mock_exception,
+            },
+        ):
+            with patch.object(salt.utils.files, "fopen", mock_open(read_data="foo")):
+                comt = "Failed to deserialize existing data: test"
+                ret.update({"comment": comt, "result": False, "changes": {}})
+                assert (
+                    filestate.serialize(
+                        name, dataset=True, merge_if_exists=True, serializer="exception"
+                    )
+                    == ret
+                )
+
 
 # 'mknod' function tests: 1
 def test_mknod():