diff --git a/submodule.c b/submodule.c
index 62beb8fd5f..4bf552b0e5 100644
--- a/submodule.c
+++ b/submodule.c
@@ -928,23 +928,33 @@ struct has_commit_data {
 static int check_has_commit(const struct object_id *oid, void *data)
 {
 	struct has_commit_data *cb = data;
+	struct repository subrepo;
+	enum object_type type;
 
-	enum object_type type = oid_object_info(cb->repo, oid, NULL);
+	if (repo_submodule_init(&subrepo, cb->repo, cb->path, null_oid())) {
+		cb->result = 0;
+		goto cleanup;
+	}
+
+	type = oid_object_info(&subrepo, oid, NULL);
 
 	switch (type) {
 	case OBJ_COMMIT:
-		return 0;
+		goto cleanup;
 	case OBJ_BAD:
 		/*
 		 * Object is missing or invalid. If invalid, an error message
 		 * has already been printed.
 		 */
 		cb->result = 0;
-		return 0;
+		goto cleanup;
 	default:
 		die(_("submodule entry '%s' (%s) is a %s, not a commit"),
 		    cb->path, oid_to_hex(oid), type_name(type));
 	}
+cleanup:
+	repo_clear(&subrepo);
+	return 0;
 }
 
 static int submodule_has_commits(struct repository *r,
diff --git a/t/t5526-fetch-submodules.sh b/t/t5526-fetch-submodules.sh
index ed11569d8d..2dc75b80db 100755
--- a/t/t5526-fetch-submodules.sh
+++ b/t/t5526-fetch-submodules.sh
@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@ test_description='Recursive "git fetch" for submodules'
 GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME=master
 export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME
 
+GIT_TEST_FATAL_REGISTER_SUBMODULE_ODB=1
+export GIT_TEST_FATAL_REGISTER_SUBMODULE_ODB
+
 . ./test-lib.sh
 
 pwd=$(pwd)
diff --git a/t/t5531-deep-submodule-push.sh b/t/t5531-deep-submodule-push.sh
index d573ca496a..3f58b515ce 100755
--- a/t/t5531-deep-submodule-push.sh
+++ b/t/t5531-deep-submodule-push.sh
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@ test_description='test push with submodules'
 GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME=main
 export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME
 
+GIT_TEST_FATAL_REGISTER_SUBMODULE_ODB=1
+export GIT_TEST_FATAL_REGISTER_SUBMODULE_ODB
+
 . ./test-lib.sh
 
 test_expect_success setup '
diff --git a/t/t5545-push-options.sh b/t/t5545-push-options.sh
index 58c7add7ee..214228349a 100755
--- a/t/t5545-push-options.sh
+++ b/t/t5545-push-options.sh
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@ test_description='pushing to a repository using push options'
 GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME=main
 export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME
 
+GIT_TEST_FATAL_REGISTER_SUBMODULE_ODB=1
+export GIT_TEST_FATAL_REGISTER_SUBMODULE_ODB
+
 . ./test-lib.sh
 
 mk_repo_pair () {
diff --git a/t/t5572-pull-submodule.sh b/t/t5572-pull-submodule.sh
index 4f92a116e1..fa6b4cca65 100755
--- a/t/t5572-pull-submodule.sh
+++ b/t/t5572-pull-submodule.sh
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@
 
 test_description='pull can handle submodules'
 
+GIT_TEST_FATAL_REGISTER_SUBMODULE_ODB=1
+export GIT_TEST_FATAL_REGISTER_SUBMODULE_ODB
+
 . ./test-lib.sh
 . "$TEST_DIRECTORY"/lib-submodule-update.sh
 
diff --git a/t/t7418-submodule-sparse-gitmodules.sh b/t/t7418-submodule-sparse-gitmodules.sh
index 3f7f271883..f87e524d6d 100755
--- a/t/t7418-submodule-sparse-gitmodules.sh
+++ b/t/t7418-submodule-sparse-gitmodules.sh
@@ -12,6 +12,9 @@ The test setup uses a sparse checkout, however the same scenario can be set up
 also by committing .gitmodules and then just removing it from the filesystem.
 '
 
+GIT_TEST_FATAL_REGISTER_SUBMODULE_ODB=1
+export GIT_TEST_FATAL_REGISTER_SUBMODULE_ODB
+
 . ./test-lib.sh
 
 test_expect_success 'sparse checkout setup which hides .gitmodules' '