diff --git a/moto/secretsmanager/models.py b/moto/secretsmanager/models.py
index 82989a904..68d561acb 100644
--- a/moto/secretsmanager/models.py
+++ b/moto/secretsmanager/models.py
@@ -522,9 +522,14 @@ class SecretsManagerBackend(BaseBackend):
         # We add the new secret version as "pending". The previous version remains
         # as "current" for now. Once we've passed the new secret through the lambda
         # rotation function (if provided) we can then update the status to "current".
+        old_secret_version_secret_string = (
+            old_secret_version["secret_string"]
+            if "secret_string" in old_secret_version
+            else None
+        )
         self._add_secret(
             secret_id,
-            old_secret_version["secret_string"],
+            old_secret_version_secret_string,
             description=secret.description,
             tags=secret.tags,
             version_id=new_version_id,
diff --git a/tests/test_secretsmanager/test_secretsmanager.py b/tests/test_secretsmanager/test_secretsmanager.py
index 2017350d1..579b0dcf1 100644
--- a/tests/test_secretsmanager/test_secretsmanager.py
+++ b/tests/test_secretsmanager/test_secretsmanager.py
@@ -644,6 +644,22 @@ def test_rotate_secret():
     assert describe_secret["Description"] == "foodescription"
 
 
+@mock_secretsmanager
+def test_rotate_secret_without_secretstring():
+    conn = boto3.client("secretsmanager", region_name="us-west-2")
+    conn.create_secret(Name=DEFAULT_SECRET_NAME, Description="foodescription")
+
+    rotated_secret = conn.rotate_secret(SecretId=DEFAULT_SECRET_NAME)
+
+    assert rotated_secret
+    assert rotated_secret["ARN"] == rotated_secret["ARN"]
+    assert rotated_secret["Name"] == DEFAULT_SECRET_NAME
+    assert rotated_secret["VersionId"] == rotated_secret["VersionId"]
+
+    describe_secret = conn.describe_secret(SecretId=DEFAULT_SECRET_NAME)
+    assert describe_secret["Description"] == "foodescription"
+
+
 @mock_secretsmanager
 def test_rotate_secret_enable_rotation():
     conn = boto3.client("secretsmanager", region_name="us-west-2")