diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/utils.yaml b/changelogs/fragments/utils.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3c59ffe3a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/utils.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+---
+bugfixes:
+  - Simplifies value handling by returning direct string conversion instead of using ast.literal_eval
diff --git a/plugins/module_utils/network/common/utils.py b/plugins/module_utils/network/common/utils.py
index 5576e7edf..fccb5b348 100644
--- a/plugins/module_utils/network/common/utils.py
+++ b/plugins/module_utils/network/common/utils.py
@@ -685,11 +685,11 @@ def __call__(self, value, variables=None, fail_on_undefined=True):
                 return None
             raise
 
-        if value:
-            try:
-                return ast.literal_eval(value)
-            except Exception:
-                return str(value)
+        if value is not None:
+            # Special handling for values starting with +
+            if isinstance(value, str) and value.startswith("+"):
+                return value  # Keep the + prefix intact
+            return str(value)  # Convert everything else to string
         else:
             return None