diff --git a/builtin/grep.c b/builtin/grep.c
index 4b7b2da104..4a279ca4bf 100644
--- a/builtin/grep.c
+++ b/builtin/grep.c
@@ -310,10 +310,7 @@ static int grep_sha1(struct grep_opt *opt, const unsigned char *sha1,
 {
 	struct strbuf pathbuf = STRBUF_INIT;
 
-	if (opt->relative && opt->prefix_length) {
-		quote_path_relative(filename + tree_name_len, opt->prefix, &pathbuf);
-		strbuf_insert(&pathbuf, 0, filename, tree_name_len);
-	} else if (super_prefix) {
+	if (super_prefix) {
 		strbuf_add(&pathbuf, filename, tree_name_len);
 		strbuf_addstr(&pathbuf, super_prefix);
 		strbuf_addstr(&pathbuf, filename + tree_name_len);
@@ -321,6 +318,13 @@ static int grep_sha1(struct grep_opt *opt, const unsigned char *sha1,
 		strbuf_addstr(&pathbuf, filename);
 	}
 
+	if (opt->relative && opt->prefix_length) {
+		char *name = strbuf_detach(&pathbuf, NULL);
+		quote_path_relative(name + tree_name_len, opt->prefix, &pathbuf);
+		strbuf_insert(&pathbuf, 0, name, tree_name_len);
+		free(name);
+	}
+
 #ifndef NO_PTHREADS
 	if (num_threads) {
 		add_work(opt, GREP_SOURCE_SHA1, pathbuf.buf, path, sha1);
@@ -345,12 +349,14 @@ static int grep_file(struct grep_opt *opt, const char *filename)
 {
 	struct strbuf buf = STRBUF_INIT;
 
+	if (super_prefix)
+		strbuf_addstr(&buf, super_prefix);
+	strbuf_addstr(&buf, filename);
+
 	if (opt->relative && opt->prefix_length) {
-		quote_path_relative(filename, opt->prefix, &buf);
-	} else {
-		if (super_prefix)
-			strbuf_addstr(&buf, super_prefix);
-		strbuf_addstr(&buf, filename);
+		char *name = strbuf_detach(&buf, NULL);
+		quote_path_relative(name, opt->prefix, &buf);
+		free(name);
 	}
 
 #ifndef NO_PTHREADS
@@ -399,13 +405,12 @@ static void run_pager(struct grep_opt *opt, const char *prefix)
 }
 
 static void compile_submodule_options(const struct grep_opt *opt,
-				      const struct pathspec *pathspec,
+				      const char **argv,
 				      int cached, int untracked,
 				      int opt_exclude, int use_index,
 				      int pattern_type_arg)
 {
 	struct grep_pat *pattern;
-	int i;
 
 	if (recurse_submodules)
 		argv_array_push(&submodule_options, "--recurse-submodules");
@@ -523,9 +528,8 @@ static void compile_submodule_options(const struct grep_opt *opt,
 
 	/* Add Pathspecs */
 	argv_array_push(&submodule_options, "--");
-	for (i = 0; i < pathspec->nr; i++)
-		argv_array_push(&submodule_options,
-				pathspec->items[i].original);
+	for (; *argv; argv++)
+		argv_array_push(&submodule_options, *argv);
 }
 
 /*
@@ -549,6 +553,11 @@ static int grep_submodule_launch(struct grep_opt *opt,
 	prepare_submodule_repo_env(&cp.env_array);
 	argv_array_push(&cp.env_array, GIT_DIR_ENVIRONMENT);
 
+	if (opt->relative && opt->prefix_length)
+		argv_array_pushf(&cp.env_array, "%s=%s",
+				 GIT_TOPLEVEL_PREFIX_ENVIRONMENT,
+				 opt->prefix);
+
 	/* Add super prefix */
 	argv_array_pushf(&cp.args, "--super-prefix=%s%s/",
 			 super_prefix ? super_prefix : "",
@@ -1206,7 +1215,7 @@ int cmd_grep(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 
 	if (recurse_submodules) {
 		gitmodules_config();
-		compile_submodule_options(&opt, &pathspec, cached, untracked,
+		compile_submodule_options(&opt, argv + i, cached, untracked,
 					  opt_exclude, use_index,
 					  pattern_type_arg);
 	}
diff --git a/t/t7814-grep-recurse-submodules.sh b/t/t7814-grep-recurse-submodules.sh
index 67247a01d6..5b6eb3a65e 100755
--- a/t/t7814-grep-recurse-submodules.sh
+++ b/t/t7814-grep-recurse-submodules.sh
@@ -227,6 +227,81 @@ test_expect_success 'grep history with moved submoules' '
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'grep using relative path' '
+	test_when_finished "rm -rf parent sub" &&
+	git init sub &&
+	echo "foobar" >sub/file &&
+	git -C sub add file &&
+	git -C sub commit -m "add file" &&
+
+	git init parent &&
+	echo "foobar" >parent/file &&
+	git -C parent add file &&
+	mkdir parent/src &&
+	echo "foobar" >parent/src/file2 &&
+	git -C parent add src/file2 &&
+	git -C parent submodule add ../sub &&
+	git -C parent commit -m "add files and submodule" &&
+
+	# From top works
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	file:foobar
+	src/file2:foobar
+	sub/file:foobar
+	EOF
+	git -C parent grep --recurse-submodules -e "foobar" >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual &&
+
+	# Relative path to top
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	../file:foobar
+	file2:foobar
+	../sub/file:foobar
+	EOF
+	git -C parent/src grep --recurse-submodules -e "foobar" -- .. >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual &&
+
+	# Relative path to submodule
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	../sub/file:foobar
+	EOF
+	git -C parent/src grep --recurse-submodules -e "foobar" -- ../sub >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'grep from a subdir' '
+	test_when_finished "rm -rf parent sub" &&
+	git init sub &&
+	echo "foobar" >sub/file &&
+	git -C sub add file &&
+	git -C sub commit -m "add file" &&
+
+	git init parent &&
+	mkdir parent/src &&
+	echo "foobar" >parent/src/file &&
+	git -C parent add src/file &&
+	git -C parent submodule add ../sub src/sub &&
+	git -C parent submodule add ../sub sub &&
+	git -C parent commit -m "add files and submodules" &&
+
+	# Verify grep from root works
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	src/file:foobar
+	src/sub/file:foobar
+	sub/file:foobar
+	EOF
+	git -C parent grep --recurse-submodules -e "foobar" >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual &&
+
+	# Verify grep from a subdir works
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	file:foobar
+	sub/file:foobar
+	EOF
+	git -C parent/src grep --recurse-submodules -e "foobar" >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
 test_incompatible_with_recurse_submodules ()
 {
 	test_expect_success "--recurse-submodules and $1 are incompatible" "