diff --git a/builtin/worktree.c b/builtin/worktree.c
index 4de44f579a..d6bc5263f1 100644
--- a/builtin/worktree.c
+++ b/builtin/worktree.c
@@ -376,7 +376,7 @@ static int add_worktree(const char *path, const char *refname,
 	if (opts->checkout) {
 		cp.argv = NULL;
 		argv_array_clear(&cp.args);
-		argv_array_pushl(&cp.args, "reset", "--hard", NULL);
+		argv_array_pushl(&cp.args, "reset", "--hard", "--no-recurse-submodules", NULL);
 		if (opts->quiet)
 			argv_array_push(&cp.args, "--quiet");
 		cp.env = child_env.argv;
diff --git a/t/t2400-worktree-add.sh b/t/t2400-worktree-add.sh
index e819ba741e..8a9831413c 100755
--- a/t/t2400-worktree-add.sh
+++ b/t/t2400-worktree-add.sh
@@ -587,4 +587,28 @@ test_expect_success '"add" should not fail because of another bad worktree' '
 	)
 '
 
+test_expect_success '"add" with uninitialized submodule, with submodule.recurse unset' '
+	test_create_repo submodule &&
+	test_commit -C submodule first &&
+	test_create_repo project &&
+	git -C project submodule add ../submodule &&
+	git -C project add submodule &&
+	test_tick &&
+	git -C project commit -m add_sub &&
+	git clone project project-clone &&
+	git -C project-clone worktree add ../project-2
+'
+test_expect_success '"add" with uninitialized submodule, with submodule.recurse set' '
+	git -C project-clone -c submodule.recurse worktree add ../project-3
+'
+
+test_expect_success '"add" with initialized submodule, with submodule.recurse unset' '
+	git -C project-clone submodule update --init &&
+	git -C project-clone worktree add ../project-4
+'
+
+test_expect_success '"add" with initialized submodule, with submodule.recurse set' '
+	git -C project-clone -c submodule.recurse worktree add ../project-5
+'
+
 test_done