diff --git a/builtin/fetch.c b/builtin/fetch.c
index 7910419c93..faae548a28 100644
--- a/builtin/fetch.c
+++ b/builtin/fetch.c
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 #include "run-command.h"
 #include "parse-options.h"
 #include "sigchain.h"
+#include "submodule-config.h"
 #include "submodule.h"
 #include "connected.h"
 #include "argv-array.h"
diff --git a/submodule-config.c b/submodule-config.c
index c64faf3d6f..393de5357e 100644
--- a/submodule-config.c
+++ b/submodule-config.c
@@ -204,6 +204,30 @@ static struct submodule *lookup_or_create_by_name(struct submodule_cache *cache,
 	return submodule;
 }
 
+static int parse_fetch_recurse(const char *opt, const char *arg,
+			       int die_on_error)
+{
+	switch (git_config_maybe_bool(opt, arg)) {
+	case 1:
+		return RECURSE_SUBMODULES_ON;
+	case 0:
+		return RECURSE_SUBMODULES_OFF;
+	default:
+		if (!strcmp(arg, "on-demand"))
+			return RECURSE_SUBMODULES_ON_DEMAND;
+
+		if (die_on_error)
+			die("bad %s argument: %s", opt, arg);
+		else
+			return RECURSE_SUBMODULES_ERROR;
+	}
+}
+
+int parse_fetch_recurse_submodules_arg(const char *opt, const char *arg)
+{
+	return parse_fetch_recurse(opt, arg, 1);
+}
+
 static void warn_multiple_config(const unsigned char *commit_sha1,
 				 const char *name, const char *option)
 {
@@ -255,6 +279,8 @@ static int parse_config(const char *var, const char *value, void *data)
 		submodule->path = strbuf_detach(&path, NULL);
 		cache_put_path(me->cache, submodule);
 	} else if (!strcmp(item.buf, "fetchrecursesubmodules")) {
+		/* when parsing worktree configurations we can die early */
+		int die_on_error = is_null_sha1(me->gitmodules_sha1);
 		if (!me->overwrite &&
 		    submodule->fetch_recurse != RECURSE_SUBMODULES_NONE) {
 			warn_multiple_config(me->commit_sha1, submodule->name,
@@ -262,7 +288,8 @@ static int parse_config(const char *var, const char *value, void *data)
 			goto release_return;
 		}
 
-		submodule->fetch_recurse = parse_fetch_recurse_submodules_arg(var, value);
+		submodule->fetch_recurse = parse_fetch_recurse(var, value,
+								die_on_error);
 	} else if (!strcmp(item.buf, "ignore")) {
 		struct strbuf ignore = STRBUF_INIT;
 		if (!me->overwrite && submodule->ignore != NULL) {
diff --git a/submodule-config.h b/submodule-config.h
index 5fe44ce4b7..9061e4ed38 100644
--- a/submodule-config.h
+++ b/submodule-config.h
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ struct submodule {
 	unsigned char gitmodules_sha1[20];
 };
 
+int parse_fetch_recurse_submodules_arg(const char *opt, const char *arg);
 int parse_submodule_config_option(const char *var, const char *value);
 const struct submodule *submodule_from_name(const unsigned char *commit_sha1,
 		const char *name);
diff --git a/submodule.c b/submodule.c
index 97355eb7ad..48225595ef 100644
--- a/submodule.c
+++ b/submodule.c
@@ -288,21 +288,6 @@ static void print_submodule_summary(struct rev_info *rev, FILE *f,
 	strbuf_release(&sb);
 }
 
-int parse_fetch_recurse_submodules_arg(const char *opt, const char *arg)
-{
-	switch (git_config_maybe_bool(opt, arg)) {
-	case 1:
-		return RECURSE_SUBMODULES_ON;
-	case 0:
-		return RECURSE_SUBMODULES_OFF;
-	default:
-		if (!strcmp(arg, "on-demand"))
-			return RECURSE_SUBMODULES_ON_DEMAND;
-		/* TODO: remove the die for history parsing here */
-		die("bad %s argument: %s", opt, arg);
-	}
-}
-
 void show_submodule_summary(FILE *f, const char *path,
 		const char *line_prefix,
 		unsigned char one[20], unsigned char two[20],
diff --git a/submodule.h b/submodule.h
index 547219dcfa..5507c3d9a0 100644
--- a/submodule.h
+++ b/submodule.h
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ struct diff_options;
 struct argv_array;
 
 enum {
+	RECURSE_SUBMODULES_ERROR = -3,
 	RECURSE_SUBMODULES_NONE = -2,
 	RECURSE_SUBMODULES_ON_DEMAND = -1,
 	RECURSE_SUBMODULES_OFF = 0,
@@ -21,7 +22,6 @@ void set_diffopt_flags_from_submodule_config(struct diff_options *diffopt,
 int submodule_config(const char *var, const char *value, void *cb);
 void gitmodules_config(void);
 void handle_ignore_submodules_arg(struct diff_options *diffopt, const char *);
-int parse_fetch_recurse_submodules_arg(const char *opt, const char *arg);
 void show_submodule_summary(FILE *f, const char *path,
 		const char *line_prefix,
 		unsigned char one[20], unsigned char two[20],
diff --git a/t/t7411-submodule-config.sh b/t/t7411-submodule-config.sh
index 7229978cd2..fc97c3314e 100755
--- a/t/t7411-submodule-config.sh
+++ b/t/t7411-submodule-config.sh
@@ -115,4 +115,39 @@ test_expect_success 'reading of local configuration' '
 	)
 '
 
+cat >super/expect_fetchrecurse_die.err <<EOF
+fatal: bad submodule.submodule.fetchrecursesubmodules argument: blabla
+EOF
+
+test_expect_success 'local error in fetchrecursesubmodule dies early' '
+	(cd super &&
+		git config submodule.submodule.fetchrecursesubmodules blabla &&
+		test_must_fail test-submodule-config \
+			"" b \
+			"" submodule \
+				>actual.out 2>actual.err &&
+		touch expect_fetchrecurse_die.out &&
+		test_cmp expect_fetchrecurse_die.out actual.out  &&
+		test_cmp expect_fetchrecurse_die.err actual.err  &&
+		git config --unset submodule.submodule.fetchrecursesubmodules
+	)
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'error in history in fetchrecursesubmodule lets continue' '
+	(cd super &&
+		git config -f .gitmodules \
+			submodule.submodule.fetchrecursesubmodules blabla &&
+		git add .gitmodules &&
+		git config --unset -f .gitmodules \
+			submodule.submodule.fetchrecursesubmodules &&
+		git commit -m "add error in fetchrecursesubmodules" &&
+		test-submodule-config \
+			HEAD b \
+			HEAD submodule \
+				>actual &&
+		test_cmp expect_error actual  &&
+		git reset --hard HEAD^
+	)
+'
+
 test_done