diff --git a/Documentation/git-submodule.txt b/Documentation/git-submodule.txt
index 97c32fe264..326136a85b 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-submodule.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-submodule.txt
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ SYNOPSIS
 'git submodule' [--quiet] update [--init] [-N|--no-fetch] [--rebase]
 	      [--reference <repository>] [--merge] [--] [<path>...]
 'git submodule' [--quiet] summary [--cached] [--summary-limit <n>] [commit] [--] [<path>...]
-'git submodule' [--quiet] foreach <command>
+'git submodule' [--quiet] foreach [--recursive] <command>
 'git submodule' [--quiet] sync [--] [<path>...]
 
 
@@ -138,6 +138,8 @@ foreach::
 	Any submodules defined in the superproject but not checked out are
 	ignored by this command. Unless given --quiet, foreach prints the name
 	of each submodule before evaluating the command.
+	If --recursive is given, submodules are traversed recursively (i.e.
+	the given shell command is evaluated in nested submodules as well).
 	A non-zero return from the command in any submodule causes
 	the processing to terminate. This can be overridden by adding '|| :'
 	to the end of the command.
@@ -210,6 +212,12 @@ OPTIONS
 *NOTE*: Do *not* use this option unless you have read the note
 for linkgit:git-clone[1]'s --reference and --shared options carefully.
 
+--recursive::
+	This option is only valid for the foreach command.
+	Traverse submodules recursively. The operation is performed not
+	only in the submodules of the current repo, but also
+	in any nested submodules inside those submodules (and so on).
+
 <path>...::
 	Paths to submodule(s). When specified this will restrict the command
 	to only operate on the submodules found at the specified paths.
diff --git a/git-submodule.sh b/git-submodule.sh
index f48f682ab6..c501b7eafa 100755
--- a/git-submodule.sh
+++ b/git-submodule.sh
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ USAGE="[--quiet] add [-b branch] [--reference <repository>] [--] <repository> <p
    or: $dashless [--quiet] init [--] [<path>...]
    or: $dashless [--quiet] update [--init] [-N|--no-fetch] [--rebase] [--reference <repository>] [--merge] [--] [<path>...]
    or: $dashless [--quiet] summary [--cached] [--summary-limit <n>] [commit] [--] [<path>...]
-   or: $dashless [--quiet] foreach <command>
+   or: $dashless [--quiet] foreach [--recursive] <command>
    or: $dashless [--quiet] sync [--] [<path>...]"
 OPTIONS_SPEC=
 . git-sh-setup
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ reference=
 cached=
 nofetch=
 update=
+prefix=
 
 # Resolve relative url by appending to parent's url
 resolve_relative_url ()
@@ -249,6 +250,9 @@ cmd_foreach()
 		-q|--quiet)
 			GIT_QUIET=1
 			;;
+		--recursive)
+			recursive=1
+			;;
 		-*)
 			usage
 			;;
@@ -264,9 +268,18 @@ cmd_foreach()
 	do
 		if test -e "$path"/.git
 		then
-			say "Entering '$path'"
+			say "Entering '$prefix$path'"
 			name=$(module_name "$path")
-			(cd "$path" && eval "$@") ||
+			(
+				prefix="$prefix$path/"
+				unset GIT_DIR
+				cd "$path" &&
+				eval "$@" &&
+				if test -n "$recursive"
+				then
+					cmd_foreach "--recursive" "$@"
+				fi
+			) ||
 			die "Stopping at '$path'; script returned non-zero status."
 		fi
 	done
diff --git a/t/t7407-submodule-foreach.sh b/t/t7407-submodule-foreach.sh
index 991aa80c8a..be122c7f8c 100755
--- a/t/t7407-submodule-foreach.sh
+++ b/t/t7407-submodule-foreach.sh
@@ -76,4 +76,103 @@ test_expect_success 'test basic "submodule foreach" usage' '
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'setup nested submodules' '
+	git clone submodule nested1 &&
+	git clone submodule nested2 &&
+	git clone submodule nested3 &&
+	(
+		cd nested3 &&
+		git submodule add ../submodule submodule &&
+		test_tick &&
+		git commit -m "submodule" &&
+		git submodule init submodule
+	) &&
+	(
+		cd nested2 &&
+		git submodule add ../nested3 nested3 &&
+		test_tick &&
+		git commit -m "nested3" &&
+		git submodule init nested3
+	) &&
+	(
+		cd nested1 &&
+		git submodule add ../nested2 nested2 &&
+		test_tick &&
+		git commit -m "nested2" &&
+		git submodule init nested2
+	) &&
+	(
+		cd super &&
+		git submodule add ../nested1 nested1 &&
+		test_tick &&
+		git commit -m "nested1" &&
+		git submodule init nested1
+	)
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'use "submodule foreach" to checkout 2nd level submodule' '
+	git clone super clone2 &&
+	(
+		cd clone2 &&
+		test ! -d sub1/.git &&
+		test ! -d sub2/.git &&
+		test ! -d sub3/.git &&
+		test ! -d nested1/.git &&
+		git submodule update --init &&
+		test -d sub1/.git &&
+		test -d sub2/.git &&
+		test -d sub3/.git &&
+		test -d nested1/.git &&
+		test ! -d nested1/nested2/.git &&
+		git submodule foreach "git submodule update --init" &&
+		test -d nested1/nested2/.git &&
+		test ! -d nested1/nested2/nested3/.git
+	)
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'use "foreach --recursive" to checkout all submodules' '
+	(
+		cd clone2 &&
+		git submodule foreach --recursive "git submodule update --init" &&
+		test -d nested1/nested2/nested3/.git &&
+		test -d nested1/nested2/nested3/submodule/.git
+	)
+'
+
+cat > expect <<EOF
+Entering 'nested1'
+Entering 'nested1/nested2'
+Entering 'nested1/nested2/nested3'
+Entering 'nested1/nested2/nested3/submodule'
+Entering 'sub1'
+Entering 'sub2'
+Entering 'sub3'
+EOF
+
+test_expect_success 'test messages from "foreach --recursive"' '
+	(
+		cd clone2 &&
+		git submodule foreach --recursive "true" > ../actual
+	) &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+cat > expect <<EOF
+nested1-nested1
+nested2-nested2
+nested3-nested3
+submodule-submodule
+foo1-sub1
+foo2-sub2
+foo3-sub3
+EOF
+
+test_expect_success 'test "foreach --quiet --recursive"' '
+	(
+		cd clone2 &&
+		git submodule foreach -q --recursive "echo \$name-\$path" > ../actual
+	) &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
 test_done