diff --git a/builtin/fetch.c b/builtin/fetch.c
index ade092b..d84c263 100644
--- a/builtin/fetch.c
+++ b/builtin/fetch.c
@@ -71,6 +71,9 @@ static int git_fetch_config(const char *k, const char *v, void *cb)
 	if (!strcmp(k, "submodule.fetchjobs")) {
 		max_children = parse_submodule_fetchjobs(k, v);
 		return 0;
+	} else if (!strcmp(k, "fetch.recursesubmodules")) {
+		recurse_submodules = parse_fetch_recurse_submodules_arg(k, v);
+		return 0;
 	}
 
 	return git_default_config(k, v, cb);
@@ -81,6 +84,9 @@ static int gitmodules_fetch_config(const char *var, const char *value, void *cb)
 	if (!strcmp(var, "submodule.fetchjobs")) {
 		max_children = parse_submodule_fetchjobs(var, value);
 		return 0;
+	} else if (!strcmp(var, "fetch.recursesubmodules")) {
+		recurse_submodules = parse_fetch_recurse_submodules_arg(var, value);
+		return 0;
 	}
 
 	return 0;
@@ -1355,7 +1361,6 @@ int cmd_fetch(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		deepen = 1;
 
 	if (recurse_submodules != RECURSE_SUBMODULES_OFF) {
-		set_config_fetch_recurse_submodules(recurse_submodules_default);
 		gitmodules_config();
 		git_config(submodule_config, NULL);
 	}
@@ -1399,6 +1404,7 @@ int cmd_fetch(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		result = fetch_populated_submodules(&options,
 						    submodule_prefix,
 						    recurse_submodules,
+						    recurse_submodules_default,
 						    verbosity < 0,
 						    max_children);
 		argv_array_clear(&options);