diff --git a/git-submodule.sh b/git-submodule.sh
index 4678378424..69bcb4fab2 100755
--- a/git-submodule.sh
+++ b/git-submodule.sh
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ cmd_add()
 
 	if ! git submodule--helper config --check-writeable >/dev/null 2>&1
 	then
-		 die "$(eval_gettext "please make sure that the .gitmodules file is in the working tree")"
+		 die "fatal: $(eval_gettext "please make sure that the .gitmodules file is in the working tree")"
 	fi
 
 	if test -n "$reference_path"
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ cmd_add()
 	case "$repo" in
 	./*|../*)
 		test -z "$wt_prefix" ||
-		die "$(gettext "Relative path can only be used from the toplevel of the working tree")"
+		die "fatal: $(gettext "Relative path can only be used from the toplevel of the working tree")"
 
 		# dereference source url relative to parent's url
 		realrepo=$(git submodule--helper resolve-relative-url "$repo") || exit
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ cmd_add()
 		realrepo=$repo
 		;;
 	*)
-		die "$(eval_gettext "repo URL: '\$repo' must be absolute or begin with ./|../")"
+		die "fatal: $(eval_gettext "repo URL: '\$repo' must be absolute or begin with ./|../")"
 	;;
 	esac
 
@@ -205,17 +205,17 @@ cmd_add()
 	if test -z "$force"
 	then
 		git ls-files --error-unmatch "$sm_path" > /dev/null 2>&1 &&
-		die "$(eval_gettext "'\$sm_path' already exists in the index")"
+		die "fatal: $(eval_gettext "'\$sm_path' already exists in the index")"
 	else
 		git ls-files -s "$sm_path" | sane_grep -v "^160000" > /dev/null 2>&1 &&
-		die "$(eval_gettext "'\$sm_path' already exists in the index and is not a submodule")"
+		die "fatal: $(eval_gettext "'\$sm_path' already exists in the index and is not a submodule")"
 	fi
 
 	if test -d "$sm_path" &&
 		test -z $(git -C "$sm_path" rev-parse --show-cdup 2>/dev/null)
 	then
 	    git -C "$sm_path" rev-parse --verify -q HEAD >/dev/null ||
-	    die "$(eval_gettext "'\$sm_path' does not have a commit checked out")"
+	    die "fatal: $(eval_gettext "'\$sm_path' does not have a commit checked out")"
 	fi
 
 	if test -z "$force"
@@ -238,7 +238,7 @@ cmd_add()
 
 	if ! git submodule--helper check-name "$sm_name"
 	then
-		die "$(eval_gettext "'$sm_name' is not a valid submodule name")"
+		die "fatal: $(eval_gettext "'$sm_name' is not a valid submodule name")"
 	fi
 
 	# perhaps the path exists and is already a git repo, else clone it
@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@ or you are unsure what this means choose another name with the '--name' option."
 	git config submodule."$sm_name".url "$realrepo"
 
 	git add --no-warn-embedded-repo $force "$sm_path" ||
-	die "$(eval_gettext "Failed to add submodule '\$sm_path'")"
+	die "fatal: $(eval_gettext "Failed to add submodule '\$sm_path'")"
 
 	git submodule--helper config submodule."$sm_name".path "$sm_path" &&
 	git submodule--helper config submodule."$sm_name".url "$repo" &&
@@ -290,7 +290,7 @@ or you are unsure what this means choose another name with the '--name' option."
 		git submodule--helper config submodule."$sm_name".branch "$branch"
 	fi &&
 	git add --force .gitmodules ||
-	die "$(eval_gettext "Failed to register submodule '\$sm_path'")"
+	die "fatal: $(eval_gettext "Failed to register submodule '\$sm_path'")"
 
 	# NEEDSWORK: In a multi-working-tree world, this needs to be
 	# set in the per-worktree config.
@@ -565,7 +565,7 @@ cmd_update()
 		else
 			subsha1=$(sanitize_submodule_env; cd "$sm_path" &&
 				git rev-parse --verify HEAD) ||
-			die "$(eval_gettext "Unable to find current revision in submodule path '\$displaypath'")"
+			die "fatal: $(eval_gettext "Unable to find current revision in submodule path '\$displaypath'")"
 		fi
 
 		if test -n "$remote"
@@ -575,12 +575,12 @@ cmd_update()
 			then
 				# Fetch remote before determining tracking $sha1
 				fetch_in_submodule "$sm_path" $depth ||
-				die "$(eval_gettext "Unable to fetch in submodule path '\$sm_path'")"
+				die "fatal: $(eval_gettext "Unable to fetch in submodule path '\$sm_path'")"
 			fi
 			remote_name=$(sanitize_submodule_env; cd "$sm_path" && git submodule--helper print-default-remote)
 			sha1=$(sanitize_submodule_env; cd "$sm_path" &&
 				git rev-parse --verify "${remote_name}/${branch}") ||
-			die "$(eval_gettext "Unable to find current \${remote_name}/\${branch} revision in submodule path '\$sm_path'")"
+			die "fatal: $(eval_gettext "Unable to find current \${remote_name}/\${branch} revision in submodule path '\$sm_path'")"
 		fi
 
 		if test "$subsha1" != "$sha1" || test -n "$force"
@@ -604,36 +604,36 @@ cmd_update()
 				# not be reachable from any of the refs
 				is_tip_reachable "$sm_path" "$sha1" ||
 				fetch_in_submodule "$sm_path" "$depth" "$sha1" ||
-				die "$(eval_gettext "Fetched in submodule path '\$displaypath', but it did not contain \$sha1. Direct fetching of that commit failed.")"
+				die "fatal: $(eval_gettext "Fetched in submodule path '\$displaypath', but it did not contain \$sha1. Direct fetching of that commit failed.")"
 			fi
 
 			must_die_on_failure=
 			case "$update_module" in
 			checkout)
 				command="git checkout $subforce -q"
-				die_msg="$(eval_gettext "Unable to checkout '\$sha1' in submodule path '\$displaypath'")"
+				die_msg="fatal: $(eval_gettext "Unable to checkout '\$sha1' in submodule path '\$displaypath'")"
 				say_msg="$(eval_gettext "Submodule path '\$displaypath': checked out '\$sha1'")"
 				;;
 			rebase)
 				command="git rebase ${GIT_QUIET:+--quiet}"
-				die_msg="$(eval_gettext "Unable to rebase '\$sha1' in submodule path '\$displaypath'")"
+				die_msg="fatal: $(eval_gettext "Unable to rebase '\$sha1' in submodule path '\$displaypath'")"
 				say_msg="$(eval_gettext "Submodule path '\$displaypath': rebased into '\$sha1'")"
 				must_die_on_failure=yes
 				;;
 			merge)
 				command="git merge ${GIT_QUIET:+--quiet}"
-				die_msg="$(eval_gettext "Unable to merge '\$sha1' in submodule path '\$displaypath'")"
+				die_msg="fatal: $(eval_gettext "Unable to merge '\$sha1' in submodule path '\$displaypath'")"
 				say_msg="$(eval_gettext "Submodule path '\$displaypath': merged in '\$sha1'")"
 				must_die_on_failure=yes
 				;;
 			!*)
 				command="${update_module#!}"
-				die_msg="$(eval_gettext "Execution of '\$command \$sha1' failed in submodule path '\$displaypath'")"
+				die_msg="fatal: $(eval_gettext "Execution of '\$command \$sha1' failed in submodule path '\$displaypath'")"
 				say_msg="$(eval_gettext "Submodule path '\$displaypath': '\$command \$sha1'")"
 				must_die_on_failure=yes
 				;;
 			*)
-				die "$(eval_gettext "Invalid update mode '$update_module' for submodule path '$path'")"
+				die "fatal: $(eval_gettext "Invalid update mode '$update_module' for submodule path '$path'")"
 			esac
 
 			if (sanitize_submodule_env; cd "$sm_path" && $command "$sha1")
@@ -660,7 +660,7 @@ cmd_update()
 			res=$?
 			if test $res -gt 0
 			then
-				die_msg="$(eval_gettext "Failed to recurse into submodule path '\$displaypath'")"
+				die_msg="fatal: $(eval_gettext "Failed to recurse into submodule path '\$displaypath'")"
 				if test $res -ne 2
 				then
 					err="${err};$die_msg"
diff --git a/t/t7400-submodule-basic.sh b/t/t7400-submodule-basic.sh
index 7aa7fefdfa..cb1b8e35db 100755
--- a/t/t7400-submodule-basic.sh
+++ b/t/t7400-submodule-basic.sh
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ test_expect_success 'submodule update aborts on missing gitmodules url' '
 
 test_expect_success 'add aborts on repository with no commits' '
 	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
-	'"'repo-no-commits'"' does not have a commit checked out
+	fatal: '"'repo-no-commits'"' does not have a commit checked out
 	EOF
 	git init repo-no-commits &&
 	test_must_fail git submodule add ../a ./repo-no-commits 2>actual &&
@@ -199,7 +199,7 @@ test_expect_success 'submodule add to .gitignored path with --force' '
 test_expect_success 'submodule add to path with tracked content fails' '
 	(
 		cd addtest &&
-		echo "'\''dir-tracked'\'' already exists in the index" >expect &&
+		echo "fatal: '\''dir-tracked'\'' already exists in the index" >expect &&
 		mkdir dir-tracked &&
 		test_commit foo dir-tracked/bar &&
 		test_must_fail git submodule add "$submodurl" dir-tracked >actual 2>&1 &&
diff --git a/t/t7406-submodule-update.sh b/t/t7406-submodule-update.sh
index f4f61fe554..11cccbb333 100755
--- a/t/t7406-submodule-update.sh
+++ b/t/t7406-submodule-update.sh
@@ -448,7 +448,7 @@ test_expect_success 'fsck detects command in .gitmodules' '
 '
 
 cat << EOF >expect
-Execution of 'false $submodulesha1' failed in submodule path 'submodule'
+fatal: Execution of 'false $submodulesha1' failed in submodule path 'submodule'
 EOF
 
 test_expect_success 'submodule update - command in .git/config catches failure' '
@@ -465,7 +465,7 @@ test_expect_success 'submodule update - command in .git/config catches failure'
 '
 
 cat << EOF >expect
-Execution of 'false $submodulesha1' failed in submodule path '../submodule'
+fatal: Execution of 'false $submodulesha1' failed in submodule path '../submodule'
 EOF
 
 test_expect_success 'submodule update - command in .git/config catches failure -- subdirectory' '
@@ -484,7 +484,7 @@ test_expect_success 'submodule update - command in .git/config catches failure -
 
 test_expect_success 'submodule update - command run for initial population of submodule' '
 	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
-	Execution of '\''false $submodulesha1'\'' failed in submodule path '\''submodule'\''
+	fatal: Execution of '\''false $submodulesha1'\'' failed in submodule path '\''submodule'\''
 	EOF
 	rm -rf super/submodule &&
 	test_must_fail git -C super submodule update 2>actual &&
@@ -493,8 +493,8 @@ test_expect_success 'submodule update - command run for initial population of su
 '
 
 cat << EOF >expect
-Execution of 'false $submodulesha1' failed in submodule path '../super/submodule'
-Failed to recurse into submodule path '../super'
+fatal: Execution of 'false $submodulesha1' failed in submodule path '../super/submodule'
+fatal: Failed to recurse into submodule path '../super'
 EOF
 
 test_expect_success 'recursive submodule update - command in .git/config catches failure -- subdirectory' '