diff --git a/builtin/grep.c b/builtin/grep.c
index 580fd38f41..467eb4542b 100644
--- a/builtin/grep.c
+++ b/builtin/grep.c
@@ -403,7 +403,7 @@ static int grep_tree(struct grep_opt *opt, const struct pathspec *pathspec,
 static int grep_submodule(struct grep_opt *opt,
 			  const struct pathspec *pathspec,
 			  const struct object_id *oid,
-			  const char *filename, const char *path)
+			  const char *filename, const char *path, int cached)
 {
 	struct repository subrepo;
 	struct repository *superproject = opt->repo;
@@ -474,7 +474,7 @@ static int grep_submodule(struct grep_opt *opt,
 		strbuf_release(&base);
 		free(data);
 	} else {
-		hit = grep_cache(&subopt, pathspec, 1);
+		hit = grep_cache(&subopt, pathspec, cached);
 	}
 
 	repo_clear(&subrepo);
@@ -522,7 +522,8 @@ static int grep_cache(struct grep_opt *opt,
 			}
 		} else if (recurse_submodules && S_ISGITLINK(ce->ce_mode) &&
 			   submodule_path_match(repo->index, pathspec, name.buf, NULL)) {
-			hit |= grep_submodule(opt, pathspec, NULL, ce->name, ce->name);
+			hit |= grep_submodule(opt, pathspec, NULL, ce->name,
+					      ce->name, cached);
 		} else {
 			continue;
 		}
@@ -597,7 +598,8 @@ static int grep_tree(struct grep_opt *opt, const struct pathspec *pathspec,
 			free(data);
 		} else if (recurse_submodules && S_ISGITLINK(entry.mode)) {
 			hit |= grep_submodule(opt, pathspec, &entry.oid,
-					      base->buf, base->buf + tn_len);
+					      base->buf, base->buf + tn_len,
+					      1); /* ignored */
 		}
 
 		strbuf_setlen(base, old_baselen);
diff --git a/t/t7814-grep-recurse-submodules.sh b/t/t7814-grep-recurse-submodules.sh
index 134a694516..48f2b13e7d 100755
--- a/t/t7814-grep-recurse-submodules.sh
+++ b/t/t7814-grep-recurse-submodules.sh
@@ -392,4 +392,25 @@ test_expect_success 'grep --recurse-submodules with submodules without .gitmodul
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
+reset_and_clean () {
+	git reset --hard &&
+	git clean -fd &&
+	git submodule foreach --recursive 'git reset --hard' &&
+	git submodule foreach --recursive 'git clean -fd'
+}
+
+test_expect_success 'grep --recurse-submodules without --cached considers worktree modifications' '
+	reset_and_clean &&
+	echo "A modified line in submodule" >>submodule/a &&
+	echo "submodule/a:A modified line in submodule" >expect &&
+	git grep --recurse-submodules "A modified line in submodule" >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'grep --recurse-submodules with --cached ignores worktree modifications' '
+	reset_and_clean &&
+	echo "A modified line in submodule" >>submodule/a &&
+	test_must_fail git grep --recurse-submodules --cached "A modified line in submodule" >actual 2>&1 &&
+	test_must_be_empty actual
+'
 test_done