diff --git a/git-submodule.sh b/git-submodule.sh
index 2f47e065fe..6cc2d334c0 100755
--- a/git-submodule.sh
+++ b/git-submodule.sh
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ resolve_relative_url ()
 #
 module_list()
 {
-	git ls-files --stage -- "$@" | grep '^160000 '
+	git ls-files --error-unmatch --stage -- "$@" | grep '^160000 '
 }
 
 #
diff --git a/t/t7400-submodule-basic.sh b/t/t7400-submodule-basic.sh
index a74f24c0db..b8cb2df667 100755
--- a/t/t7400-submodule-basic.sh
+++ b/t/t7400-submodule-basic.sh
@@ -240,4 +240,11 @@ test_expect_success 'ls-files gracefully handles trailing slash' '
 
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'submodule <invalid-path> warns' '
+
+	git submodule no-such-submodule 2> output.err &&
+	grep "^error: .*no-such-submodule" output.err
+
+'
+
 test_done