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;
        {"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)
 
                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"} "$@"
 }
 
 #
                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