diff --git a/builtin/submodule--helper.c b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
index d76ee0323e..d6a827366d 100644
--- a/builtin/submodule--helper.c
+++ b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
@@ -2445,7 +2445,7 @@ static int update_submodule(struct update_data *update_data)
 			    update_data->displaypath);
 		if (ret == 128)
 			exit(ret);
-		return 1;
+		return ret;
 	}
 
 	return 0;
diff --git a/t/t7406-submodule-update.sh b/t/t7406-submodule-update.sh
index 6cc07460dd..c5f5dbe55e 100755
--- a/t/t7406-submodule-update.sh
+++ b/t/t7406-submodule-update.sh
@@ -769,7 +769,7 @@ test_expect_success 'submodule update continues after recursive checkout error'
 	   echo "" > file
 	  )
 	 ) &&
-	 test_must_fail git submodule update --recursive &&
+	 test_expect_code 1 git submodule update --recursive &&
 	 (cd submodule2 &&
 	  git rev-parse --verify HEAD >../actual
 	 ) &&