diff --git a/submodule.c b/submodule.c
index c3a1300..4bd14de 100644
--- a/submodule.c
+++ b/submodule.c
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 #include "thread-utils.h"
 
 static int config_fetch_recurse_submodules = RECURSE_SUBMODULES_ON_DEMAND;
+static int parallel_jobs = 1;
 static struct string_list changed_submodule_paths;
 static int initialized_fetch_ref_tips;
 static struct sha1_array ref_tips_before_fetch;
@@ -169,7 +170,12 @@
 
 int submodule_config(const char *var, const char *value, void *cb)
 {
-	if (starts_with(var, "submodule."))
+	if (!strcmp(var, "submodule.fetchjobs")) {
+		parallel_jobs = git_config_int(var, value);
+		if (parallel_jobs < 0)
+			die(_("negative values not allowed for submodule.fetchJobs"));
+		return 0;
+	} else if (starts_with(var, "submodule."))
 		return parse_submodule_config_option(var, value);
 	else if (!strcmp(var, "fetch.recursesubmodules")) {
 		config_fetch_recurse_submodules = parse_fetch_recurse_submodules_arg(var, value);
@@ -771,6 +777,9 @@
 	argv_array_push(&spf.args, "--recurse-submodules-default");
 	/* default value, "--submodule-prefix" and its value are added later */
 
+	if (max_parallel_jobs < 0)
+		max_parallel_jobs = parallel_jobs;
+
 	calculate_changed_submodule_paths();
 	run_processes_parallel(max_parallel_jobs,
 			       get_next_submodule,
@@ -1117,3 +1126,8 @@
 	strbuf_release(&rel_path);
 	free((void *)real_work_tree);
 }
+
+int parallel_submodules(void)
+{
+	return parallel_jobs;
+}