diff --git a/Documentation/config.txt b/Documentation/config.txt
index cd2d6514e1..bdce52981d 100644
--- a/Documentation/config.txt
+++ b/Documentation/config.txt
@@ -2301,7 +2301,9 @@ status.submodulesummary::
 	--summary-limit option of linkgit:git-submodule[1]). Please note
 	that the summary output command will be suppressed for all
 	submodules when `diff.ignoreSubmodules` is set to 'all' or only
-	for those submodules where `submodule.<name>.ignore=all`. To
+	for those submodules where `submodule.<name>.ignore=all`. The only
+	exception to that rule is that status and commit will show staged
+	submodule changes. To
 	also view the summary for ignored submodules you can either use
 	the --ignore-submodules=dirty command-line option or the 'git
 	submodule summary' command, which shows a similar output but does
@@ -2332,7 +2334,9 @@ submodule.<name>.fetchRecurseSubmodules::
 submodule.<name>.ignore::
 	Defines under what circumstances "git status" and the diff family show
 	a submodule as modified. When set to "all", it will never be considered
-	modified, "dirty" will ignore all changes to the submodules work tree and
+	modified (but it will nonetheless show up in the output of status and
+	commit when it has been staged), "dirty" will ignore all changes
+	to the submodules work tree and
 	takes only differences between the HEAD of the submodule and the commit
 	recorded in the superproject into account. "untracked" will additionally
 	let submodules with modified tracked files in their work tree show up.
diff --git a/Documentation/gitmodules.txt b/Documentation/gitmodules.txt
index 347a9f76ee..f6c0dfd029 100644
--- a/Documentation/gitmodules.txt
+++ b/Documentation/gitmodules.txt
@@ -67,7 +67,9 @@ submodule.<name>.fetchRecurseSubmodules::
 submodule.<name>.ignore::
 	Defines under what circumstances "git status" and the diff family show
 	a submodule as modified. When set to "all", it will never be considered
-	modified, "dirty" will ignore all changes to the submodules work tree and
+	modified (but will nonetheless show up in the output of status and
+	commit when it has been staged), "dirty" will ignore all changes
+	to the submodules work tree and
 	takes only differences between the HEAD of the submodule and the commit
 	recorded in the superproject into account. "untracked" will additionally
 	let submodules with modified tracked files in their work tree show up.
diff --git a/builtin/commit.c b/builtin/commit.c
index 99c2044635..5e2221c8e8 100644
--- a/builtin/commit.c
+++ b/builtin/commit.c
@@ -898,8 +898,22 @@ static int prepare_to_commit(const char *index_file, const char *prefix,
 
 		if (get_sha1(parent, sha1))
 			commitable = !!active_nr;
-		else
-			commitable = index_differs_from(parent, 0);
+		else {
+			/*
+			 * Unless the user did explicitly request a submodule
+			 * ignore mode by passing a command line option we do
+			 * not ignore any changed submodule SHA-1s when
+			 * comparing index and parent, no matter what is
+			 * configured. Otherwise we won't commit any
+			 * submodules which were manually staged, which would
+			 * be really confusing.
+			 */
+			int diff_flags = DIFF_OPT_OVERRIDE_SUBMODULE_CONFIG;
+			if (ignore_submodule_arg &&
+			    !strcmp(ignore_submodule_arg, "all"))
+				diff_flags |= DIFF_OPT_IGNORE_SUBMODULES;
+			commitable = index_differs_from(parent, diff_flags);
+		}
 	}
 	strbuf_release(&committer_ident);
 
diff --git a/t/t7508-status.sh b/t/t7508-status.sh
index 148ab9ebc2..8ed5788808 100755
--- a/t/t7508-status.sh
+++ b/t/t7508-status.sh
@@ -1379,7 +1379,32 @@ EOF
 	test_i18ncmp expect output
 '
 
-test_expect_success '.gitmodules ignore=all suppresses submodule summary' '
+test_expect_success '.gitmodules ignore=all suppresses unstaged submodule summary' '
+	cat > expect << EOF &&
+On branch master
+Changes to be committed:
+  (use "git reset HEAD <file>..." to unstage)
+
+	modified:   sm
+
+Changes not staged for commit:
+  (use "git add <file>..." to update what will be committed)
+  (use "git checkout -- <file>..." to discard changes in working directory)
+
+	modified:   dir1/modified
+
+Untracked files:
+  (use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)
+
+	.gitmodules
+	dir1/untracked
+	dir2/modified
+	dir2/untracked
+	expect
+	output
+	untracked
+
+EOF
 	git config --add -f .gitmodules submodule.subname.ignore all &&
 	git config --add -f .gitmodules submodule.subname.path sm &&
 	git status > output &&
@@ -1387,7 +1412,7 @@ test_expect_success '.gitmodules ignore=all suppresses submodule summary' '
 	git config -f .gitmodules  --remove-section submodule.subname
 '
 
-test_expect_success '.git/config ignore=all suppresses submodule summary' '
+test_expect_success '.git/config ignore=all suppresses unstaged submodule summary' '
 	git config --add -f .gitmodules submodule.subname.ignore none &&
 	git config --add -f .gitmodules submodule.subname.path sm &&
 	git config --add submodule.subname.ignore all &&
@@ -1460,4 +1485,49 @@ test_expect_success 'Restore default test environment' '
 	git config --unset status.showUntrackedFiles
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'git commit will commit a staged but ignored submodule' '
+	git config --add -f .gitmodules submodule.subname.ignore all &&
+	git config --add -f .gitmodules submodule.subname.path sm &&
+	git config --add submodule.subname.ignore all &&
+	git status -s --ignore-submodules=dirty >output &&
+	test_i18ngrep "^M. sm" output &&
+	GIT_EDITOR="echo hello >>\"\$1\"" &&
+	export GIT_EDITOR &&
+	git commit -uno &&
+	git status -s --ignore-submodules=dirty >output &&
+	test_i18ngrep ! "^M. sm" output
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'git commit --dry-run will show a staged but ignored submodule' '
+	git reset HEAD^ &&
+	git add sm &&
+	cat >expect << EOF &&
+On branch master
+Changes to be committed:
+  (use "git reset HEAD <file>..." to unstage)
+
+	modified:   sm
+
+Changes not staged for commit:
+  (use "git add <file>..." to update what will be committed)
+  (use "git checkout -- <file>..." to discard changes in working directory)
+
+	modified:   dir1/modified
+
+Untracked files not listed (use -u option to show untracked files)
+EOF
+	git commit -uno --dry-run >output &&
+	test_i18ncmp expect output &&
+	git status -s --ignore-submodules=dirty >output &&
+	test_i18ngrep "^M. sm" output
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'git commit -m will commit a staged but ignored submodule' '
+	git commit -uno -m message &&
+	git status -s --ignore-submodules=dirty >output &&
+	 test_i18ngrep ! "^M. sm" output &&
+	git config --remove-section submodule.subname &&
+	git config -f .gitmodules  --remove-section submodule.subname
+'
+
 test_done
diff --git a/wt-status.c b/wt-status.c
index b8841e1dca..318a191238 100644
--- a/wt-status.c
+++ b/wt-status.c
@@ -519,9 +519,19 @@ static void wt_status_collect_changes_index(struct wt_status *s)
 	opt.def = s->is_initial ? EMPTY_TREE_SHA1_HEX : s->reference;
 	setup_revisions(0, NULL, &rev, &opt);
 
+	DIFF_OPT_SET(&rev.diffopt, OVERRIDE_SUBMODULE_CONFIG);
 	if (s->ignore_submodule_arg) {
-		DIFF_OPT_SET(&rev.diffopt, OVERRIDE_SUBMODULE_CONFIG);
 		handle_ignore_submodules_arg(&rev.diffopt, s->ignore_submodule_arg);
+	} else {
+		/*
+		 * Unless the user did explicitly request a submodule ignore
+		 * mode by passing a command line option we do not ignore any
+		 * changed submodule SHA-1s when comparing index and HEAD, no
+		 * matter what is configured. Otherwise the user won't be
+		 * shown any submodules she manually added (and which are
+		 * staged to be committed), which would be really confusing.
+		 */
+		handle_ignore_submodules_arg(&rev.diffopt, "dirty");
 	}
 
 	rev.diffopt.output_format |= DIFF_FORMAT_CALLBACK;