diff --git a/builtin/submodule--helper.c b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
index 46946b010a..b6d4f27648 100644
--- a/builtin/submodule--helper.c
+++ b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
@@ -305,6 +305,120 @@ static int module_list(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	return 0;
 }
 
+static void init_submodule(const char *path, const char *prefix, int quiet)
+{
+	const struct submodule *sub;
+	struct strbuf sb = STRBUF_INIT;
+	char *upd = NULL, *url = NULL, *displaypath;
+
+	/* Only loads from .gitmodules, no overlay with .git/config */
+	gitmodules_config();
+
+	sub = submodule_from_path(null_sha1, path);
+
+	if (prefix) {
+		strbuf_addf(&sb, "%s%s", prefix, path);
+		displaypath = strbuf_detach(&sb, NULL);
+	} else
+		displaypath = xstrdup(sub->path);
+
+	/*
+	 * Copy url setting when it is not set yet.
+	 * To look up the url in .git/config, we must not fall back to
+	 * .gitmodules, so look it up directly.
+	 */
+	strbuf_reset(&sb);
+	strbuf_addf(&sb, "submodule.%s.url", sub->name);
+	if (git_config_get_string(sb.buf, &url)) {
+		url = xstrdup(sub->url);
+
+		if (!url)
+			die(_("No url found for submodule path '%s' in .gitmodules"),
+				displaypath);
+
+		/* Possibly a url relative to parent */
+		if (starts_with_dot_dot_slash(url) ||
+		    starts_with_dot_slash(url)) {
+			char *remoteurl, *relurl;
+			char *remote = get_default_remote();
+			struct strbuf remotesb = STRBUF_INIT;
+			strbuf_addf(&remotesb, "remote.%s.url", remote);
+			free(remote);
+
+			if (git_config_get_string(remotesb.buf, &remoteurl))
+				/*
+				 * The repository is its own
+				 * authoritative upstream
+				 */
+				remoteurl = xgetcwd();
+			relurl = relative_url(remoteurl, url, NULL);
+			strbuf_release(&remotesb);
+			free(remoteurl);
+			free(url);
+			url = relurl;
+		}
+
+		if (git_config_set_gently(sb.buf, url))
+			die(_("Failed to register url for submodule path '%s'"),
+			    displaypath);
+		if (!quiet)
+			printf(_("Submodule '%s' (%s) registered for path '%s'\n"),
+				sub->name, url, displaypath);
+	}
+
+	/* Copy "update" setting when it is not set yet */
+	strbuf_reset(&sb);
+	strbuf_addf(&sb, "submodule.%s.update", sub->name);
+	if (git_config_get_string(sb.buf, &upd) &&
+	    sub->update_strategy.type != SM_UPDATE_UNSPECIFIED) {
+		if (sub->update_strategy.type == SM_UPDATE_COMMAND) {
+			fprintf(stderr, _("warning: command update mode suggested for submodule '%s'\n"),
+				sub->name);
+			upd = xstrdup("none");
+		} else
+			upd = xstrdup(submodule_strategy_to_string(&sub->update_strategy));
+
+		if (git_config_set_gently(sb.buf, upd))
+			die(_("Failed to register update mode for submodule path '%s'"), displaypath);
+	}
+	strbuf_release(&sb);
+	free(displaypath);
+	free(url);
+	free(upd);
+}
+
+static int module_init(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
+{
+	struct pathspec pathspec;
+	struct module_list list = MODULE_LIST_INIT;
+	int quiet = 0;
+	int i;
+
+	struct option module_init_options[] = {
+		OPT_STRING(0, "prefix", &prefix,
+			   N_("path"),
+			   N_("alternative anchor for relative paths")),
+		OPT__QUIET(&quiet, N_("Suppress output for initializing a submodule")),
+		OPT_END()
+	};
+
+	const char *const git_submodule_helper_usage[] = {
+		N_("git submodule--helper init [<path>]"),
+		NULL
+	};
+
+	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, module_init_options,
+			     git_submodule_helper_usage, 0);
+
+	if (module_list_compute(argc, argv, prefix, &pathspec, &list) < 0)
+		return 1;
+
+	for (i = 0; i < list.nr; i++)
+		init_submodule(list.entries[i]->name, prefix, quiet);
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
 static int module_name(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 {
 	const struct submodule *sub;
@@ -712,6 +826,7 @@ static struct cmd_struct commands[] = {
 	{"update-clone", update_clone},
 	{"resolve-relative-url", resolve_relative_url},
 	{"resolve-relative-url-test", resolve_relative_url_test},
+	{"init", module_init}
 };
 
 int cmd_submodule__helper(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
diff --git a/git-submodule.sh b/git-submodule.sh
index 2423d7c3ef..82e95a923b 100755
--- a/git-submodule.sh
+++ b/git-submodule.sh
@@ -394,50 +394,7 @@ cmd_init()
 		shift
 	done
 
-	git submodule--helper list --prefix "$wt_prefix" "$@" |
-	while read mode sha1 stage sm_path
-	do
-		die_if_unmatched "$mode"
-		name=$(git submodule--helper name "$sm_path") || exit
-
-		displaypath=$(relative_path "$prefix$sm_path")
-
-		# Copy url setting when it is not set yet
-		if test -z "$(git config "submodule.$name.url")"
-		then
-			url=$(git config -f .gitmodules submodule."$name".url)
-			test -z "$url" &&
-			die "$(eval_gettext "No url found for submodule path '\$displaypath' in .gitmodules")"
-
-			# Possibly a url relative to parent
-			case "$url" in
-			./*|../*)
-				url=$(git submodule--helper resolve-relative-url "$url") || exit
-				;;
-			esac
-			git config submodule."$name".url "$url" ||
-			die "$(eval_gettext "Failed to register url for submodule path '\$displaypath'")"
-
-			say "$(eval_gettext "Submodule '\$name' (\$url) registered for path '\$displaypath'")"
-		fi
-
-		# Copy "update" setting when it is not set yet
-		if upd="$(git config -f .gitmodules submodule."$name".update)" &&
-		   test -n "$upd" &&
-		   test -z "$(git config submodule."$name".update)"
-		then
-			case "$upd" in
-			checkout | rebase | merge | none)
-				;; # known modes of updating
-			*)
-				echo >&2 "warning: unknown update mode '$upd' suggested for submodule '$name'"
-				upd=none
-				;;
-			esac
-			git config submodule."$name".update "$upd" ||
-			die "$(eval_gettext "Failed to register update mode for submodule path '\$displaypath'")"
-		fi
-	done
+	git ${wt_prefix:+-C "$wt_prefix"} submodule--helper init ${GIT_QUIET:+--quiet} ${prefix:+--prefix "$prefix"} "$@"
 }
 
 #
@@ -740,7 +697,8 @@ cmd_update()
 		if test -n "$recursive"
 		then
 			(
-				prefix="$prefix$sm_path/"
+				prefix=$(relative_path "$prefix$sm_path/")
+				wt_prefix=
 				clear_local_git_env
 				cd "$sm_path" &&
 				eval cmd_update
diff --git a/submodule.c b/submodule.c
index 90825e17fa..4cc1c27931 100644
--- a/submodule.c
+++ b/submodule.c
@@ -237,6 +237,27 @@ int parse_submodule_update_strategy(const char *value,
 	return 0;
 }
 
+const char *submodule_strategy_to_string(const struct submodule_update_strategy *s)
+{
+	struct strbuf sb = STRBUF_INIT;
+	switch (s->type) {
+	case SM_UPDATE_CHECKOUT:
+		return "checkout";
+	case SM_UPDATE_MERGE:
+		return "merge";
+	case SM_UPDATE_REBASE:
+		return "rebase";
+	case SM_UPDATE_NONE:
+		return "none";
+	case SM_UPDATE_UNSPECIFIED:
+		return NULL;
+	case SM_UPDATE_COMMAND:
+		strbuf_addf(&sb, "!%s", s->command);
+		return strbuf_detach(&sb, NULL);
+	}
+	return NULL;
+}
+
 void handle_ignore_submodules_arg(struct diff_options *diffopt,
 				  const char *arg)
 {
diff --git a/submodule.h b/submodule.h
index 7ef3775184..ff4c4f33a5 100644
--- a/submodule.h
+++ b/submodule.h
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ int submodule_config(const char *var, const char *value, void *cb);
 void gitmodules_config(void);
 int parse_submodule_update_strategy(const char *value,
 		struct submodule_update_strategy *dst);
+const char *submodule_strategy_to_string(const struct submodule_update_strategy *s);
 void handle_ignore_submodules_arg(struct diff_options *diffopt, const char *);
 void show_submodule_summary(FILE *f, const char *path,
 		const char *line_prefix,