diff --git a/read-cache.c b/read-cache.c
index a92b25b59b..9ee125597e 100644
--- a/read-cache.c
+++ b/read-cache.c
@@ -257,7 +257,8 @@ static int ce_match_stat_basic(struct cache_entry *ce, struct stat *st)
 
 static int is_racy_timestamp(const struct index_state *istate, struct cache_entry *ce)
 {
-	return (istate->timestamp &&
+	return (!S_ISGITLINK(ce->ce_mode) &&
+		istate->timestamp &&
 		((unsigned int)istate->timestamp) <= ce->ce_mtime);
 }
 
diff --git a/t/t7506-status-submodule.sh b/t/t7506-status-submodule.sh
index 8987c9eb70..a75130cdbb 100755
--- a/t/t7506-status-submodule.sh
+++ b/t/t7506-status-submodule.sh
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ test_expect_success 'status clean (empty submodule dir)' '
 	git status |
 	grep "nothing to commit"
 '
-test_expect_failure 'status -a clean (empty submodule dir)' '
+test_expect_success 'status -a clean (empty submodule dir)' '
 	git status -a |
 	grep "nothing to commit"
 '