diff --git a/builtin/commit.c b/builtin/commit.c
index d75b380..960e7ac 100644
--- a/builtin/commit.c
+++ b/builtin/commit.c
@@ -912,11 +912,12 @@ static int prepare_to_commit(const char *index_file, const char *prefix,
 			 * submodules which were manually staged, which would
 			 * be really confusing.
 			 */
-			int diff_flags = DIFF_OPT_OVERRIDE_SUBMODULE_CONFIG;
+			struct diff_flags flags = DIFF_FLAGS_INIT;
+			flags.OVERRIDE_SUBMODULE_CONFIG = 1;
 			if (ignore_submodule_arg &&
 			    !strcmp(ignore_submodule_arg, "all"))
-				diff_flags |= DIFF_OPT_IGNORE_SUBMODULES;
-			commitable = index_differs_from(parent, diff_flags, 1);
+				flags.IGNORE_SUBMODULES = 1;
+			commitable = index_differs_from(parent, &flags, 1);
 		}
 	}
 	strbuf_release(&committer_ident);