diff --git a/Documentation/fetch-options.txt b/Documentation/fetch-options.txt
index f9036831898..6cdd9d43c5a 100644
--- a/Documentation/fetch-options.txt
+++ b/Documentation/fetch-options.txt
@@ -186,15 +186,23 @@ endif::git-pull[]
 ifndef::git-pull[]
 --recurse-submodules[=yes|on-demand|no]::
 	This option controls if and under what conditions new commits of
-	populated submodules should be fetched too. It can be used as a
-	boolean option to completely disable recursion when set to 'no' or to
-	unconditionally recurse into all populated submodules when set to
-	'yes', which is the default when this option is used without any
-	value. Use 'on-demand' to only recurse into a populated submodule
-	when the superproject retrieves a commit that updates the submodule's
-	reference to a commit that isn't already in the local submodule
-	clone. By default, 'on-demand' is used, unless
-	`fetch.recurseSubmodules` is set (see linkgit:git-config[1]).
+	submodules should be fetched too. When recursing through submodules,
+	`git fetch` always attempts to fetch "changed" submodules, that is, a
+	submodule that has commits that are referenced by a newly fetched
+	superproject commit but are missing in the local submodule clone. A
+	changed submodule can be fetched as long as it is present locally e.g.
+	in `$GIT_DIR/modules/` (see linkgit:gitsubmodules[7]); if the upstream
+	adds a new submodule, that submodule cannot be fetched until it is
+	cloned e.g. by `git submodule update`.
++
+When set to 'on-demand', only changed submodules are fetched. When set
+to 'yes', all populated submodules are fetched and submodules that are
+both unpopulated and changed are fetched. When set to 'no', submodules
+are never fetched.
++
+When unspecified, this uses the value of `fetch.recurseSubmodules` if it
+is set (see linkgit:git-config[1]), defaulting to 'on-demand' if unset.
+When this option is used without any value, it defaults to 'yes'.
 endif::git-pull[]
 
 -j::
diff --git a/Documentation/git-fetch.txt b/Documentation/git-fetch.txt
index 550c16ca616..e9d364669af 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-fetch.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-fetch.txt
@@ -287,12 +287,10 @@ include::transfer-data-leaks.txt[]
 
 BUGS
 ----
-Using --recurse-submodules can only fetch new commits in already checked
-out submodules right now. When e.g. upstream added a new submodule in the
-just fetched commits of the superproject the submodule itself cannot be
-fetched, making it impossible to check out that submodule later without
-having to do a fetch again. This is expected to be fixed in a future Git
-version.
+Using --recurse-submodules can only fetch new commits in submodules that are
+present locally e.g. in `$GIT_DIR/modules/`. If the upstream adds a new
+submodule, that submodule cannot be fetched until it is cloned e.g. by `git
+submodule update`. This is expected to be fixed in a future Git version.
 
 SEE ALSO
 --------
diff --git a/builtin/fetch.c b/builtin/fetch.c
index 79ee9591859..31191193363 100644
--- a/builtin/fetch.c
+++ b/builtin/fetch.c
@@ -2178,13 +2178,13 @@ int cmd_fetch(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 			max_children = fetch_parallel_config;
 
 		add_options_to_argv(&options);
-		result = fetch_populated_submodules(the_repository,
-						    &options,
-						    submodule_prefix,
-						    recurse_submodules,
-						    recurse_submodules_default,
-						    verbosity < 0,
-						    max_children);
+		result = fetch_submodules(the_repository,
+					  &options,
+					  submodule_prefix,
+					  recurse_submodules,
+					  recurse_submodules_default,
+					  verbosity < 0,
+					  max_children);
 		strvec_clear(&options);
 	}
 
diff --git a/submodule.c b/submodule.c
index b36ef267527..2b8a99409e6 100644
--- a/submodule.c
+++ b/submodule.c
@@ -808,9 +808,40 @@ static const char *default_name_or_path(const char *path_or_name)
 
 /*
  * Holds relevant information for a changed submodule. Used as the .util
- * member of the changed submodule string_list_item.
+ * member of the changed submodule name string_list_item.
+ *
+ * (super_oid, path) allows the submodule config to be read from _some_
+ * .gitmodules file. We store this information the first time we find a
+ * superproject commit that points to the submodule, but this is
+ * arbitrary - we can choose any (super_oid, path) that matches the
+ * submodule's name.
+ *
+ * NEEDSWORK: Storing an arbitrary commit is undesirable because we can't
+ * guarantee that we're reading the commit that the user would expect. A better
+ * scheme would be to just fetch a submodule by its name. This requires two
+ * steps:
+ * - Create a function that behaves like repo_submodule_init(), but accepts a
+ *   submodule name instead of treeish_name and path. This should be easy
+ *   because repo_submodule_init() internally uses the submodule's name.
+ *
+ * - Replace most instances of 'struct submodule' (which is the .gitmodules
+ *   config) with just the submodule name. This is OK because we expect
+ *   submodule settings to be stored in .git/config (via "git submodule init"),
+ *   not .gitmodules. This also lets us delete get_non_gitmodules_submodule(),
+ *   which constructs a bogus 'struct submodule' for the sake of giving a
+ *   placeholder name to a gitlink.
  */
 struct changed_submodule_data {
+	/*
+	 * The first superproject commit in the rev walk that points to
+	 * the submodule.
+	 */
+	const struct object_id *super_oid;
+	/*
+	 * Path to the submodule in the superproject commit referenced
+	 * by 'super_oid'.
+	 */
+	char *path;
 	/* The submodule commits that have changed in the rev walk. */
 	struct oid_array new_commits;
 };
@@ -818,6 +849,7 @@ struct changed_submodule_data {
 static void changed_submodule_data_clear(struct changed_submodule_data *cs_data)
 {
 	oid_array_clear(&cs_data->new_commits);
+	free(cs_data->path);
 }
 
 static void collect_changed_submodules_cb(struct diff_queue_struct *q,
@@ -862,9 +894,14 @@ static void collect_changed_submodules_cb(struct diff_queue_struct *q,
 			continue;
 
 		item = string_list_insert(changed, name);
-		if (!item->util)
+		if (item->util)
+			cs_data = item->util;
+		else {
 			item->util = xcalloc(1, sizeof(struct changed_submodule_data));
-		cs_data = item->util;
+			cs_data = item->util;
+			cs_data->super_oid = commit_oid;
+			cs_data->path = xstrdup(p->two->path);
+		}
 		oid_array_append(&cs_data->new_commits, &p->two->oid);
 	}
 }
@@ -1253,14 +1290,36 @@ void check_for_new_submodule_commits(struct object_id *oid)
 	oid_array_append(&ref_tips_after_fetch, oid);
 }
 
+/*
+ * Returns 1 if there is at least one submodule gitdir in
+ * $GIT_DIR/modules and 0 otherwise. This follows
+ * submodule_name_to_gitdir(), which looks for submodules in
+ * $GIT_DIR/modules, not $GIT_COMMON_DIR.
+ *
+ * A submodule can be moved to $GIT_DIR/modules manually by running "git
+ * submodule absorbgitdirs", or it may be initialized there by "git
+ * submodule update".
+ */
+static int repo_has_absorbed_submodules(struct repository *r)
+{
+	int ret;
+	struct strbuf buf = STRBUF_INIT;
+
+	strbuf_repo_git_path(&buf, r, "modules/");
+	ret = file_exists(buf.buf) && !is_empty_dir(buf.buf);
+	strbuf_release(&buf);
+	return ret;
+}
+
 static void calculate_changed_submodule_paths(struct repository *r,
 		struct string_list *changed_submodule_names)
 {
 	struct strvec argv = STRVEC_INIT;
 	struct string_list_item *name;
 
-	/* No need to check if there are no submodules configured */
-	if (!submodule_from_path(r, NULL, NULL))
+	/* No need to check if no submodules would be fetched */
+	if (!submodule_from_path(r, NULL, NULL) &&
+	    !repo_has_absorbed_submodules(r))
 		return;
 
 	strvec_push(&argv, "--"); /* argv[0] program name */
@@ -1333,7 +1392,16 @@ int submodule_touches_in_range(struct repository *r,
 }
 
 struct submodule_parallel_fetch {
-	int count;
+	/*
+	 * The index of the last index entry processed by
+	 * get_fetch_task_from_index().
+	 */
+	int index_count;
+	/*
+	 * The index of the last string_list entry processed by
+	 * get_fetch_task_from_changed().
+	 */
+	int changed_count;
 	struct strvec args;
 	struct repository *r;
 	const char *prefix;
@@ -1342,7 +1410,16 @@ struct submodule_parallel_fetch {
 	int quiet;
 	int result;
 
+	/*
+	 * Names of submodules that have new commits. Generated by
+	 * walking the newly fetched superproject commits.
+	 */
 	struct string_list changed_submodule_names;
+	/*
+	 * Names of submodules that have already been processed. Lets us
+	 * avoid fetching the same submodule more than once.
+	 */
+	struct string_list seen_submodule_names;
 
 	/* Pending fetches by OIDs */
 	struct fetch_task **oid_fetch_tasks;
@@ -1353,6 +1430,7 @@ struct submodule_parallel_fetch {
 #define SPF_INIT { \
 	.args = STRVEC_INIT, \
 	.changed_submodule_names = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP, \
+	.seen_submodule_names = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP, \
 	.submodules_with_errors = STRBUF_INIT, \
 }
 
@@ -1390,6 +1468,7 @@ struct fetch_task {
 	const struct submodule *sub;
 	unsigned free_sub : 1; /* Do we need to free the submodule? */
 	const char *default_argv; /* The default fetch mode. */
+	struct strvec git_args; /* Args for the child git process. */
 
 	struct oid_array *commits; /* Ensure these commits are fetched */
 };
@@ -1425,6 +1504,8 @@ static void fetch_task_release(struct fetch_task *p)
 	if (p->repo)
 		repo_clear(p->repo);
 	FREE_AND_NULL(p->repo);
+
+	strvec_clear(&p->git_args);
 }
 
 static struct repository *get_submodule_repo_for(struct repository *r,
@@ -1463,6 +1544,9 @@ static struct fetch_task *fetch_task_create(struct submodule_parallel_fetch *spf
 		task->free_sub = 1;
 	}
 
+	if (string_list_lookup(&spf->seen_submodule_names, task->sub->name))
+		goto cleanup;
+
 	switch (get_fetch_recurse_config(task->sub, spf))
 	{
 	default:
@@ -1493,10 +1577,12 @@ static struct fetch_task *fetch_task_create(struct submodule_parallel_fetch *spf
 }
 
 static struct fetch_task *
-get_fetch_task(struct submodule_parallel_fetch *spf, struct strbuf *err)
+get_fetch_task_from_index(struct submodule_parallel_fetch *spf,
+			  struct strbuf *err)
 {
-	for (; spf->count < spf->r->index->cache_nr; spf->count++) {
-		const struct cache_entry *ce = spf->r->index->cache[spf->count];
+	for (; spf->index_count < spf->r->index->cache_nr; spf->index_count++) {
+		const struct cache_entry *ce =
+			spf->r->index->cache[spf->index_count];
 		struct fetch_task *task;
 
 		if (!S_ISGITLINK(ce->ce_mode))
@@ -1511,7 +1597,7 @@ get_fetch_task(struct submodule_parallel_fetch *spf, struct strbuf *err)
 				strbuf_addf(err, _("Fetching submodule %s%s\n"),
 					    spf->prefix, ce->name);
 
-			spf->count++;
+			spf->index_count++;
 			return task;
 		} else {
 			struct strbuf empty_submodule_path = STRBUF_INIT;
@@ -1539,11 +1625,83 @@ get_fetch_task(struct submodule_parallel_fetch *spf, struct strbuf *err)
 	return NULL;
 }
 
+static struct fetch_task *
+get_fetch_task_from_changed(struct submodule_parallel_fetch *spf,
+			    struct strbuf *err)
+{
+	for (; spf->changed_count < spf->changed_submodule_names.nr;
+	     spf->changed_count++) {
+		struct string_list_item item =
+			spf->changed_submodule_names.items[spf->changed_count];
+		struct changed_submodule_data *cs_data = item.util;
+		struct fetch_task *task;
+
+		if (!is_tree_submodule_active(spf->r, cs_data->super_oid,cs_data->path))
+			continue;
+
+		task = fetch_task_create(spf, cs_data->path,
+					 cs_data->super_oid);
+		if (!task)
+			continue;
+
+		if (!task->repo) {
+			strbuf_addf(err, _("Could not access submodule '%s' at commit %s\n"),
+				    cs_data->path,
+				    find_unique_abbrev(cs_data->super_oid, DEFAULT_ABBREV));
+
+			fetch_task_release(task);
+			free(task);
+			continue;
+		}
+
+		if (!spf->quiet)
+			strbuf_addf(err,
+				    _("Fetching submodule %s%s at commit %s\n"),
+				    spf->prefix, task->sub->path,
+				    find_unique_abbrev(cs_data->super_oid,
+						       DEFAULT_ABBREV));
+
+		spf->changed_count++;
+		/*
+		 * NEEDSWORK: Submodules set/unset a value for
+		 * core.worktree when they are populated/unpopulated by
+		 * "git checkout" (and similar commands, see
+		 * submodule_move_head() and
+		 * connect_work_tree_and_git_dir()), but if the
+		 * submodule is unpopulated in another way (e.g. "git
+		 * rm", "rm -r"), core.worktree will still be set even
+		 * though the directory doesn't exist, and the child
+		 * process will crash while trying to chdir into the
+		 * nonexistent directory.
+		 *
+		 * In this case, we know that the submodule has no
+		 * working tree, so we can work around this by
+		 * setting "--work-tree=." (--bare does not work because
+		 * worktree settings take precedence over bare-ness).
+		 * However, this is not necessarily true in other cases,
+		 * so a generalized solution is still necessary.
+		 *
+		 * Possible solutions:
+		 * - teach "git [add|rm]" to unset core.worktree and
+		 *   discourage users from removing submodules without
+		 *   using a Git command.
+		 * - teach submodule child processes to ignore stale
+		 *   core.worktree values.
+		 */
+		strvec_push(&task->git_args, "--work-tree=.");
+		return task;
+	}
+	return NULL;
+}
+
 static int get_next_submodule(struct child_process *cp, struct strbuf *err,
 			      void *data, void **task_cb)
 {
 	struct submodule_parallel_fetch *spf = data;
-	struct fetch_task *task = get_fetch_task(spf, err);
+	struct fetch_task *task =
+		get_fetch_task_from_index(spf, err);
+	if (!task)
+		task = get_fetch_task_from_changed(spf, err);
 
 	if (task) {
 		struct strbuf submodule_prefix = STRBUF_INIT;
@@ -1553,6 +1711,8 @@ static int get_next_submodule(struct child_process *cp, struct strbuf *err,
 		prepare_submodule_repo_env_in_gitdir(&cp->env_array);
 		cp->git_cmd = 1;
 		strvec_init(&cp->args);
+		if (task->git_args.nr)
+			strvec_pushv(&cp->args, task->git_args.v);
 		strvec_pushv(&cp->args, spf->args.v);
 		strvec_push(&cp->args, task->default_argv);
 		strvec_push(&cp->args, "--submodule-prefix");
@@ -1564,6 +1724,7 @@ static int get_next_submodule(struct child_process *cp, struct strbuf *err,
 		*task_cb = task;
 
 		strbuf_release(&submodule_prefix);
+		string_list_insert(&spf->seen_submodule_names, task->sub->name);
 		return 1;
 	}
 
@@ -1678,11 +1839,11 @@ out:
 	return 0;
 }
 
-int fetch_populated_submodules(struct repository *r,
-			       const struct strvec *options,
-			       const char *prefix, int command_line_option,
-			       int default_option,
-			       int quiet, int max_parallel_jobs)
+int fetch_submodules(struct repository *r,
+		     const struct strvec *options,
+		     const char *prefix, int command_line_option,
+		     int default_option,
+		     int quiet, int max_parallel_jobs)
 {
 	int i;
 	struct submodule_parallel_fetch spf = SPF_INIT;
diff --git a/submodule.h b/submodule.h
index 784ceffc0e6..61bebde3190 100644
--- a/submodule.h
+++ b/submodule.h
@@ -88,12 +88,12 @@ int should_update_submodules(void);
  */
 const struct submodule *submodule_from_ce(const struct cache_entry *ce);
 void check_for_new_submodule_commits(struct object_id *oid);
-int fetch_populated_submodules(struct repository *r,
-			       const struct strvec *options,
-			       const char *prefix,
-			       int command_line_option,
-			       int default_option,
-			       int quiet, int max_parallel_jobs);
+int fetch_submodules(struct repository *r,
+		     const struct strvec *options,
+		     const char *prefix,
+		     int command_line_option,
+		     int default_option,
+		     int quiet, int max_parallel_jobs);
 unsigned is_submodule_modified(const char *path, int ignore_untracked);
 int submodule_uses_gitfile(const char *path);
 
diff --git a/t/t5526-fetch-submodules.sh b/t/t5526-fetch-submodules.sh
index aa6bb9867c4..43dada85444 100755
--- a/t/t5526-fetch-submodules.sh
+++ b/t/t5526-fetch-submodules.sh
@@ -12,17 +12,29 @@ pwd=$(pwd)
 
 write_expected_sub () {
 	NEW_HEAD=$1 &&
+	SUPER_HEAD=$2 &&
 	cat >"$pwd/expect.err.sub" <<-EOF
-	Fetching submodule submodule
+	Fetching submodule submodule${SUPER_HEAD:+ at commit $SUPER_HEAD}
 	From $pwd/submodule
 	   OLD_HEAD..$NEW_HEAD  sub        -> origin/sub
 	EOF
 }
 
+write_expected_sub2 () {
+	NEW_HEAD=$1 &&
+	SUPER_HEAD=$2 &&
+	cat >"$pwd/expect.err.sub2" <<-EOF
+	Fetching submodule submodule2${SUPER_HEAD:+ at commit $SUPER_HEAD}
+	From $pwd/submodule2
+	   OLD_HEAD..$NEW_HEAD  sub2       -> origin/sub2
+	EOF
+}
+
 write_expected_deep () {
 	NEW_HEAD=$1 &&
+	SUB_HEAD=$2 &&
 	cat >"$pwd/expect.err.deep" <<-EOF
-	Fetching submodule submodule/subdir/deepsubmodule
+	Fetching submodule submodule/subdir/deepsubmodule${SUB_HEAD:+ at commit $SUB_HEAD}
 	From $pwd/deepsubmodule
 	   OLD_HEAD..$NEW_HEAD  deep       -> origin/deep
 	EOF
@@ -106,6 +118,10 @@ verify_fetch_result () {
 	then
 		cat expect.err.deep >>expect.err.combined
 	fi &&
+	if test -f expect.err.sub2
+	then
+		cat expect.err.sub2 >>expect.err.combined
+	fi &&
 	sed -e 's/[0-9a-f][0-9a-f]*\.\./OLD_HEAD\.\./' "$ACTUAL_ERR" >actual.err.cmp &&
 	test_cmp expect.err.combined actual.err.cmp
 }
@@ -419,6 +435,147 @@ test_expect_success "'--recurse-submodules=on-demand' recurses as deep as necess
 	verify_fetch_result actual.err
 '
 
+# These tests verify that we can fetch submodules that aren't in the
+# index.
+#
+# First, test the simple case where the index is empty and we only fetch
+# submodules that are not in the index.
+test_expect_success 'setup downstream branch without submodules' '
+	(
+		cd downstream &&
+		git checkout --recurse-submodules -b no-submodules &&
+		git rm .gitmodules &&
+		git rm submodule &&
+		git commit -m "no submodules" &&
+		git checkout --recurse-submodules super
+	)
+'
+
+test_expect_success "'--recurse-submodules=on-demand' should fetch submodule commits if the submodule is changed but the index has no submodules" '
+	add_submodule_commits &&
+	add_superproject_commits &&
+	# Fetch the new superproject commit
+	(
+		cd downstream &&
+		git switch --recurse-submodules no-submodules &&
+		git fetch --recurse-submodules=on-demand >../actual.out 2>../actual.err
+	) &&
+	super_head=$(git rev-parse --short HEAD) &&
+	sub_head=$(git -C submodule rev-parse --short HEAD) &&
+	deep_head=$(git -C submodule/subdir/deepsubmodule rev-parse --short HEAD) &&
+
+	# assert that these are fetched from commits, not the index
+	write_expected_sub $sub_head $super_head &&
+	write_expected_deep $deep_head $sub_head &&
+
+	test_must_be_empty actual.out &&
+	verify_fetch_result actual.err
+'
+
+test_expect_success "'--recurse-submodules' should fetch submodule commits if the submodule is changed but the index has no submodules" '
+	add_submodule_commits &&
+	add_superproject_commits &&
+	# Fetch the new superproject commit
+	(
+		cd downstream &&
+		git switch --recurse-submodules no-submodules &&
+		git fetch --recurse-submodules >../actual.out 2>../actual.err
+	) &&
+	super_head=$(git rev-parse --short HEAD) &&
+	sub_head=$(git -C submodule rev-parse --short HEAD) &&
+	deep_head=$(git -C submodule/subdir/deepsubmodule rev-parse --short HEAD) &&
+
+	# assert that these are fetched from commits, not the index
+	write_expected_sub $sub_head $super_head &&
+	write_expected_deep $deep_head $sub_head &&
+
+	test_must_be_empty actual.out &&
+	verify_fetch_result actual.err
+'
+
+test_expect_success "'--recurse-submodules' should ignore changed, inactive submodules" '
+	add_submodule_commits &&
+	add_superproject_commits &&
+
+	# Fetch the new superproject commit
+	(
+		cd downstream &&
+		git switch --recurse-submodules no-submodules &&
+		git -c submodule.submodule.active=false fetch --recurse-submodules >../actual.out 2>../actual.err
+	) &&
+	test_must_be_empty actual.out &&
+	super_head=$(git rev-parse --short HEAD) &&
+	write_expected_super $super_head &&
+	# Neither should be fetched because the submodule is inactive
+	rm expect.err.sub &&
+	rm expect.err.deep &&
+	verify_fetch_result actual.err
+'
+
+# Now that we know we can fetch submodules that are not in the index,
+# test that we can fetch index and non-index submodules in the same
+# operation.
+test_expect_success 'setup downstream branch with other submodule' '
+	mkdir submodule2 &&
+	(
+		cd submodule2 &&
+		git init &&
+		echo sub2content >sub2file &&
+		git add sub2file &&
+		git commit -a -m new &&
+		git branch -M sub2
+	) &&
+	git checkout -b super-sub2-only &&
+	git submodule add "$pwd/submodule2" submodule2 &&
+	git commit -m "add sub2" &&
+	git checkout super &&
+	(
+		cd downstream &&
+		git fetch --recurse-submodules origin &&
+		git checkout super-sub2-only &&
+		# Explicitly run "git submodule update" because sub2 is new
+		# and has not been cloned.
+		git submodule update --init &&
+		git checkout --recurse-submodules super
+	)
+'
+
+test_expect_success "'--recurse-submodules' should fetch submodule commits in changed submodules and the index" '
+	test_when_finished "rm expect.err.sub2" &&
+	# Create new commit in origin/super
+	add_submodule_commits &&
+	add_superproject_commits &&
+
+	# Create new commit in origin/super-sub2-only
+	git checkout super-sub2-only &&
+	(
+		cd submodule2 &&
+		test_commit --no-tag foo
+	) &&
+	git add submodule2 &&
+	git commit -m "new submodule2" &&
+
+	git checkout super &&
+	(
+		cd downstream &&
+		git fetch --recurse-submodules >../actual.out 2>../actual.err
+	) &&
+	test_must_be_empty actual.out &&
+	sub2_head=$(git -C submodule2 rev-parse --short HEAD) &&
+	super_head=$(git rev-parse --short super) &&
+	super_sub2_only_head=$(git rev-parse --short super-sub2-only) &&
+	write_expected_sub2 $sub2_head $super_sub2_only_head &&
+
+	# write_expected_super cannot handle >1 branch. Since this is a
+	# one-off, construct expect.err.super manually.
+	cat >"$pwd/expect.err.super" <<-EOF &&
+	From $pwd/.
+	   OLD_HEAD..$super_head  super           -> origin/super
+	   OLD_HEAD..$super_sub2_only_head  super-sub2-only -> origin/super-sub2-only
+	EOF
+	verify_fetch_result actual.err
+'
+
 test_expect_success "'--recurse-submodules=on-demand' stops when no new submodule commits are found in the superproject (and ignores config)" '
 	add_submodule_commits &&
 	echo a >> file &&
@@ -861,4 +1018,111 @@ test_expect_success 'recursive fetch after deinit a submodule' '
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'setup repo with upstreams that share a submodule name' '
+	mkdir same-name-1 &&
+	(
+		cd same-name-1 &&
+		git init -b main &&
+		test_commit --no-tag a
+	) &&
+	git clone same-name-1 same-name-2 &&
+	# same-name-1 and same-name-2 both add a submodule with the
+	# name "submodule"
+	(
+		cd same-name-1 &&
+		mkdir submodule &&
+		git -C submodule init -b main &&
+		test_commit -C submodule --no-tag a1 &&
+		git submodule add "$pwd/same-name-1/submodule" &&
+		git add submodule &&
+		git commit -m "super-a1"
+	) &&
+	(
+		cd same-name-2 &&
+		mkdir submodule &&
+		git -C submodule init -b main &&
+		test_commit -C submodule --no-tag a2 &&
+		git submodule add "$pwd/same-name-2/submodule" &&
+		git add submodule &&
+		git commit -m "super-a2"
+	) &&
+	git clone same-name-1 -o same-name-1 same-name-downstream &&
+	(
+		cd same-name-downstream &&
+		git remote add same-name-2 ../same-name-2 &&
+		git fetch --all &&
+		# init downstream with same-name-1
+		git submodule update --init
+	)
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'fetch --recurse-submodules updates name-conflicted, populated submodule' '
+	test_when_finished "git -C same-name-downstream checkout main" &&
+	(
+		cd same-name-1 &&
+		test_commit -C submodule --no-tag b1 &&
+		git add submodule &&
+		git commit -m "super-b1"
+	) &&
+	(
+		cd same-name-2 &&
+		test_commit -C submodule --no-tag b2 &&
+		git add submodule &&
+		git commit -m "super-b2"
+	) &&
+	(
+		cd same-name-downstream &&
+		# even though the .gitmodules is correct, we cannot
+		# fetch from same-name-2
+		git checkout same-name-2/main &&
+		git fetch --recurse-submodules same-name-1 &&
+		test_must_fail git fetch --recurse-submodules same-name-2
+	) &&
+	super_head1=$(git -C same-name-1 rev-parse HEAD) &&
+	git -C same-name-downstream cat-file -e $super_head1 &&
+
+	super_head2=$(git -C same-name-2 rev-parse HEAD) &&
+	git -C same-name-downstream cat-file -e $super_head2 &&
+
+	sub_head1=$(git -C same-name-1/submodule rev-parse HEAD) &&
+	git -C same-name-downstream/submodule cat-file -e $sub_head1 &&
+
+	sub_head2=$(git -C same-name-2/submodule rev-parse HEAD) &&
+	test_must_fail git -C same-name-downstream/submodule cat-file -e $sub_head2
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'fetch --recurse-submodules updates name-conflicted, unpopulated submodule' '
+	(
+		cd same-name-1 &&
+		test_commit -C submodule --no-tag c1 &&
+		git add submodule &&
+		git commit -m "super-c1"
+	) &&
+	(
+		cd same-name-2 &&
+		test_commit -C submodule --no-tag c2 &&
+		git add submodule &&
+		git commit -m "super-c2"
+	) &&
+	(
+		cd same-name-downstream &&
+		git checkout main &&
+		git rm .gitmodules &&
+		git rm submodule &&
+		git commit -m "no submodules" &&
+		git fetch --recurse-submodules same-name-1
+	) &&
+	head1=$(git -C same-name-1/submodule rev-parse HEAD) &&
+	head2=$(git -C same-name-2/submodule rev-parse HEAD) &&
+	(
+		cd same-name-downstream/.git/modules/submodule &&
+		# The submodule has core.worktree pointing to the "git
+		# rm"-ed directory, overwrite the invalid value. See
+		# comment in get_fetch_task_from_changed() for more
+		# information.
+		git --work-tree=. cat-file -e $head1 &&
+		test_must_fail git --work-tree=. cat-file -e $head2
+	)
+'
+
 test_done