diff --git a/builtin/submodule--helper.c b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
index b80fc4ba3d..c934c21e3d 100644
--- a/builtin/submodule--helper.c
+++ b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
@@ -566,12 +566,12 @@ static int module_foreach(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	};
 
 	const char *const git_submodule_helper_usage[] = {
-		N_("git submodule--helper foreach [--quiet] [--recursive] <command>"),
+		N_("git submodule--helper foreach [--quiet] [--recursive] [--] <command>"),
 		NULL
 	};
 
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, module_foreach_options,
-			     git_submodule_helper_usage, PARSE_OPT_KEEP_UNKNOWN);
+			     git_submodule_helper_usage, 0);
 
 	if (module_list_compute(0, NULL, prefix, &pathspec, &list) < 0)
 		return 1;
@@ -709,7 +709,7 @@ static int module_init(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	};
 
 	const char *const git_submodule_helper_usage[] = {
-		N_("git submodule--helper init [<path>]"),
+		N_("git submodule--helper init [<options>] [<path>]"),
 		NULL
 	};
 
@@ -2097,7 +2097,7 @@ static int absorb_git_dirs(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	};
 
 	const char *const git_submodule_helper_usage[] = {
-		N_("git submodule--helper embed-git-dir [<path>...]"),
+		N_("git submodule--helper absorb-git-dirs [<options>] [<path>...]"),
 		NULL
 	};
 
diff --git a/git-submodule.sh b/git-submodule.sh
index b5f2beee60..d7edd25dc3 100755
--- a/git-submodule.sh
+++ b/git-submodule.sh
@@ -345,7 +345,7 @@ cmd_foreach()
 		shift
 	done
 
-	git ${wt_prefix:+-C "$wt_prefix"} ${prefix:+--super-prefix "$prefix"} submodule--helper foreach ${GIT_QUIET:+--quiet} ${recursive:+--recursive} "$@"
+	git ${wt_prefix:+-C "$wt_prefix"} ${prefix:+--super-prefix "$prefix"} submodule--helper foreach ${GIT_QUIET:+--quiet} ${recursive:+--recursive} -- "$@"
 }
 
 #
@@ -376,7 +376,7 @@ cmd_init()
 		shift
 	done
 
-	git ${wt_prefix:+-C "$wt_prefix"} ${prefix:+--super-prefix "$prefix"} submodule--helper init ${GIT_QUIET:+--quiet}  "$@"
+	git ${wt_prefix:+-C "$wt_prefix"} ${prefix:+--super-prefix "$prefix"} submodule--helper init ${GIT_QUIET:+--quiet} -- "$@"
 }
 
 #
@@ -412,7 +412,7 @@ cmd_deinit()
 		shift
 	done
 
-	git ${wt_prefix:+-C "$wt_prefix"} submodule--helper deinit ${GIT_QUIET:+--quiet} ${prefix:+--prefix "$prefix"} ${force:+--force} ${deinit_all:+--all} "$@"
+	git ${wt_prefix:+-C "$wt_prefix"} submodule--helper deinit ${GIT_QUIET:+--quiet} ${prefix:+--prefix "$prefix"} ${force:+--force} ${deinit_all:+--all} -- "$@"
 }
 
 is_tip_reachable () (
@@ -541,6 +541,7 @@ cmd_update()
 		${depth:+--depth "$depth"} \
 		$recommend_shallow \
 		$jobs \
+		-- \
 		"$@" || echo "#unmatched" $?
 	} | {
 	err=
@@ -933,7 +934,7 @@ cmd_status()
 		shift
 	done
 
-	git ${wt_prefix:+-C "$wt_prefix"} ${prefix:+--super-prefix "$prefix"} submodule--helper status ${GIT_QUIET:+--quiet} ${cached:+--cached} ${recursive:+--recursive} "$@"
+	git ${wt_prefix:+-C "$wt_prefix"} ${prefix:+--super-prefix "$prefix"} submodule--helper status ${GIT_QUIET:+--quiet} ${cached:+--cached} ${recursive:+--recursive} -- "$@"
 }
 #
 # Sync remote urls for submodules
@@ -966,7 +967,7 @@ cmd_sync()
 		esac
 	done
 
-	git ${wt_prefix:+-C "$wt_prefix"} ${prefix:+--super-prefix "$prefix"} submodule--helper sync ${GIT_QUIET:+--quiet} ${recursive:+--recursive} "$@"
+	git ${wt_prefix:+-C "$wt_prefix"} ${prefix:+--super-prefix "$prefix"} submodule--helper sync ${GIT_QUIET:+--quiet} ${recursive:+--recursive} -- "$@"
 }
 
 cmd_absorbgitdirs()
diff --git a/t/t7407-submodule-foreach.sh b/t/t7407-submodule-foreach.sh
index 77729ac4aa..706ae762e0 100755
--- a/t/t7407-submodule-foreach.sh
+++ b/t/t7407-submodule-foreach.sh
@@ -411,4 +411,14 @@ test_expect_success 'multi-argument command passed to foreach is not shell-evalu
 	test_cmp expected actual
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'option-like arguments passed to foreach commands are not lost' '
+	(
+		cd super &&
+		git submodule foreach "echo be --quiet" > ../expected &&
+		git submodule foreach echo be --quiet > ../actual
+	) &&
+	grep -sq -e "--quiet" expected &&
+	test_cmp expected actual
+'
+
 test_done