diff --git a/submodule.c b/submodule.c
index b0141a66dd..b3ae642f29 100644
--- a/submodule.c
+++ b/submodule.c
@@ -1446,7 +1446,7 @@ int submodule_move_head(const char *path,
 
 	argv_array_pushf(&cp.args, "--super-prefix=%s%s/",
 			get_super_prefix_or_empty(), path);
-	argv_array_pushl(&cp.args, "read-tree", NULL);
+	argv_array_pushl(&cp.args, "read-tree", "--recurse-submodules", NULL);
 
 	if (flags & SUBMODULE_MOVE_HEAD_DRY_RUN)
 		argv_array_push(&cp.args, "-n");
@@ -1474,6 +1474,7 @@ int submodule_move_head(const char *path,
 			cp.no_stdin = 1;
 			cp.dir = path;
 
+			prepare_submodule_repo_env(&cp.env_array);
 			argv_array_pushl(&cp.args, "update-ref", "HEAD", new, NULL);
 
 			if (run_command(&cp)) {
diff --git a/t/lib-submodule-update.sh b/t/lib-submodule-update.sh
index fb4f7b014e..2c17826e95 100755
--- a/t/lib-submodule-update.sh
+++ b/t/lib-submodule-update.sh
@@ -787,11 +787,6 @@ test_submodule_switch_recursing () {
 	then
 		RESULTDS=failure
 	fi
-	RESULTR=success
-	if test "$KNOWN_FAILURE_SUBMODULE_RECURSIVE_NESTED" = 1
-	then
-		RESULTR=failure
-	fi
 	RESULTOI=success
 	if test "$KNOWN_FAILURE_SUBMODULE_OVERWRITE_IGNORED_UNTRACKED" = 1
 	then
@@ -1003,7 +998,7 @@ test_submodule_switch_recursing () {
 	'
 
 	# recursing deeper than one level doesn't work yet.
-	test_expect_$RESULTR "$command: modified submodule updates submodule recursively" '
+	test_expect_success "$command: modified submodule updates submodule recursively" '
 		prolog &&
 		reset_work_tree_to_interested add_nested_sub &&
 		(
diff --git a/t/t1013-read-tree-submodule.sh b/t/t1013-read-tree-submodule.sh
index de1ba02dc5..7019d0a04f 100755
--- a/t/t1013-read-tree-submodule.sh
+++ b/t/t1013-read-tree-submodule.sh
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ test_description='read-tree can handle submodules'
 . ./test-lib.sh
 . "$TEST_DIRECTORY"/lib-submodule-update.sh
 
-KNOWN_FAILURE_SUBMODULE_RECURSIVE_NESTED=1
 KNOWN_FAILURE_DIRECTORY_SUBMODULE_CONFLICTS=1
 KNOWN_FAILURE_SUBMODULE_OVERWRITE_IGNORED_UNTRACKED=1
 
diff --git a/t/t2013-checkout-submodule.sh b/t/t2013-checkout-submodule.sh
index e8f70b806f..aa35223369 100755
--- a/t/t2013-checkout-submodule.sh
+++ b/t/t2013-checkout-submodule.sh
@@ -64,7 +64,6 @@ test_expect_success '"checkout <submodule>" honors submodule.*.ignore from .git/
 '
 
 KNOWN_FAILURE_DIRECTORY_SUBMODULE_CONFLICTS=1
-KNOWN_FAILURE_SUBMODULE_RECURSIVE_NESTED=1
 test_submodule_switch_recursing "git checkout --recurse-submodules"
 
 test_submodule_forced_switch_recursing "git checkout -f --recurse-submodules"