diff --git a/Documentation/config.txt b/Documentation/config.txt
index 0510ac795c..cda6721013 100644
--- a/Documentation/config.txt
+++ b/Documentation/config.txt
@@ -829,7 +829,8 @@ diff.renames::
 diff.ignoreSubmodules::
 	Sets the default value of --ignore-submodules. Note that this
 	affects only 'git diff' Porcelain, and not lower level 'diff'
-	commands such as 'git diff-files'.
+	commands such as 'git diff-files'. 'git checkout' also honors
+	this setting when reporting uncommitted changes.
 
 diff.suppressBlankEmpty::
 	A boolean to inhibit the standard behavior of printing a space
diff --git a/builtin/checkout.c b/builtin/checkout.c
index 19c23b26e0..f365169e39 100644
--- a/builtin/checkout.c
+++ b/builtin/checkout.c
@@ -627,6 +627,10 @@ static int git_checkout_config(const char *var, const char *value, void *cb)
 		handle_ignore_submodules_arg(&opts->diff_options, value);
 		return 0;
 	}
+
+	if (!prefixcmp(var, "submodule."))
+		return parse_submodule_config_option(var, value);
+
 	return git_xmerge_config(var, value, NULL);
 }
 
@@ -711,6 +715,7 @@ int cmd_checkout(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	memset(&opts, 0, sizeof(opts));
 	memset(&new, 0, sizeof(new));
 
+	gitmodules_config();
 	git_config(git_checkout_config, &opts);
 
 	opts.track = BRANCH_TRACK_UNSPECIFIED;
diff --git a/t/t2013-checkout-submodule.sh b/t/t2013-checkout-submodule.sh
index fda3f0af7e..70edbb33e2 100755
--- a/t/t2013-checkout-submodule.sh
+++ b/t/t2013-checkout-submodule.sh
@@ -39,4 +39,27 @@ test_expect_success '"checkout <submodule>" updates the index only' '
 	git diff-files --quiet
 '
 
+test_expect_success '"checkout <submodule>" honors diff.ignoreSubmodules' '
+	git config diff.ignoreSubmodules dirty &&
+	echo x> submodule/untracked &&
+	git checkout HEAD >actual 2>&1 &&
+	! test -s actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success '"checkout <submodule>" honors submodule.*.ignore from .gitmodules' '
+	git config diff.ignoreSubmodules none &&
+	git config -f .gitmodules submodule.submodule.path submodule &&
+	git config -f .gitmodules submodule.submodule.ignore untracked &&
+	git checkout HEAD >actual 2>&1 &&
+	! test -s actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success '"checkout <submodule>" honors submodule.*.ignore from .git/config' '
+	git config -f .gitmodules submodule.submodule.ignore none &&
+	git config submodule.submodule.path submodule &&
+	git config submodule.submodule.ignore all &&
+	git checkout HEAD >actual 2>&1 &&
+	! test -s actual
+'
+
 test_done