diff --git a/examples/test_collection/roles/my_role/tasks/main.yml b/examples/test_collection/roles/my_role/tasks/main.yml
index 50c17c6786..784a81472f 100644
--- a/examples/test_collection/roles/my_role/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/examples/test_collection/roles/my_role/tasks/main.yml
@@ -4,3 +4,10 @@
     name: example.test_collection.my_role2
   vars:
     my_role2_foo: something
+
+- name: Task 2
+  # this task should NOT trigger var-naming[no-role-prefix]
+  vars:
+    foo: bar
+  ansible.builtin.debug:
+    msg: "{{ foo }}"
diff --git a/src/ansiblelint/rules/var_naming.py b/src/ansiblelint/rules/var_naming.py
index 1919e5d787..389530dba3 100644
--- a/src/ansiblelint/rules/var_naming.py
+++ b/src/ansiblelint/rules/var_naming.py
@@ -219,6 +219,8 @@ def matchtask(
             if isinstance(action, dict):
                 role_fqcn = action.get("name", "")
                 prefix = role_fqcn.split("/" if "/" in role_fqcn else ".")[-1]
+        else:
+            prefix = ""
         for key in our_vars:
             match_error = self.get_var_naming_matcherror(key, prefix=prefix)
             if match_error: