diff --git a/add-patch.c b/add-patch.c
index 509ca04456..a659653286 100644
--- a/add-patch.c
+++ b/add-patch.c
@@ -238,6 +238,7 @@ struct hunk_header {
 	 * include the newline.
 	 */
 	size_t extra_start, extra_end, colored_extra_start, colored_extra_end;
+	unsigned suppress_colored_line_range:1;
 };
 
 struct hunk {
@@ -358,15 +359,14 @@ static int parse_hunk_header(struct add_p_state *s, struct hunk *hunk)
 	if (!eol)
 		eol = s->colored.buf + s->colored.len;
 	p = memmem(line, eol - line, "@@ -", 4);
-	if (!p)
-		return error(_("could not parse colored hunk header '%.*s'"),
-			     (int)(eol - line), line);
-	p = memmem(p + 4, eol - p - 4, " @@", 3);
-	if (!p)
-		return error(_("could not parse colored hunk header '%.*s'"),
-			     (int)(eol - line), line);
+	if (p && (p = memmem(p + 4, eol - p - 4, " @@", 3))) {
+		header->colored_extra_start = p + 3 - s->colored.buf;
+	} else {
+		/* could not parse colored hunk header, leave as-is */
+		header->colored_extra_start = hunk->colored_start;
+		header->suppress_colored_line_range = 1;
+	}
 	hunk->colored_start = eol - s->colored.buf + (*eol == '\n');
-	header->colored_extra_start = p + 3 - s->colored.buf;
 	header->colored_extra_end = hunk->colored_start;
 
 	return 0;
@@ -419,7 +419,8 @@ static int parse_diff(struct add_p_state *s, const struct pathspec *ps)
 	}
 	color_arg_index = args.nr;
 	/* Use `--no-color` explicitly, just in case `diff.color = always`. */
-	strvec_pushl(&args, "--no-color", "-p", "--", NULL);
+	strvec_pushl(&args, "--no-color", "--ignore-submodules=dirty", "-p",
+		     "--", NULL);
 	for (i = 0; i < ps->nr; i++)
 		strvec_push(&args, ps->items[i].original);
 
@@ -592,7 +593,10 @@ static int parse_diff(struct add_p_state *s, const struct pathspec *ps)
 			if (colored_eol)
 				colored_p = colored_eol + 1;
 			else if (p != pend)
-				/* colored shorter than non-colored? */
+				/* non-colored has more lines? */
+				goto mismatched_output;
+			else if (colored_p == colored_pend)
+				/* last line has no matching colored one? */
 				goto mismatched_output;
 			else
 				colored_p = colored_pend;
@@ -656,6 +660,15 @@ static void render_hunk(struct add_p_state *s, struct hunk *hunk,
 		if (!colored) {
 			p = s->plain.buf + header->extra_start;
 			len = header->extra_end - header->extra_start;
+		} else if (header->suppress_colored_line_range) {
+			strbuf_add(out,
+				   s->colored.buf + header->colored_extra_start,
+				   header->colored_extra_end -
+				   header->colored_extra_start);
+
+			strbuf_add(out, s->colored.buf + hunk->colored_start,
+				   hunk->colored_end - hunk->colored_start);
+			return;
 		} else {
 			strbuf_addstr(out, s->s.fraginfo_color);
 			p = s->colored.buf + header->colored_extra_start;
diff --git a/t/t3701-add-interactive.sh b/t/t3701-add-interactive.sh
index 3b7df9bed5..5a7a0ea7e8 100755
--- a/t/t3701-add-interactive.sh
+++ b/t/t3701-add-interactive.sh
@@ -761,9 +761,20 @@ test_expect_success 'detect bogus diffFilter output' '
 	git reset --hard &&
 
 	echo content >test &&
-	test_config interactive.diffFilter "sed 1d" &&
+	test_config interactive.diffFilter "sed 6d" &&
 	printf y >y &&
-	force_color test_must_fail git add -p <y
+	force_color test_must_fail git add -p <y >output 2>&1 &&
+	grep "mismatched output" output
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'handle iffy colored hunk headers' '
+	git reset --hard &&
+
+	echo content >test &&
+	printf n >n &&
+	force_color git -c interactive.diffFilter="sed s/.*@@.*/XX/" \
+		add -p >output 2>&1 <n &&
+	grep "^XX$" output
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'handle very large filtered diff' '
@@ -944,6 +955,18 @@ test_expect_success 'status ignores dirty submodules (except HEAD)' '
 	! grep dirty-otherwise output
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'handle submodules' '
+	echo 123 >>for-submodules/dirty-otherwise/initial.t &&
+
+	force_color git -C for-submodules add -p dirty-otherwise >output 2>&1 &&
+	grep "No changes" output &&
+
+	force_color git -C for-submodules add -p dirty-head >output 2>&1 <y &&
+	git -C for-submodules ls-files --stage dirty-head >actual &&
+	rev="$(git -C for-submodules/dirty-head rev-parse HEAD)" &&
+	grep "$rev" actual
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'set up pathological context' '
 	git reset --hard &&
 	test_write_lines a a a a a a a a a a a >a &&