diff --git a/builtin/submodule--helper.c b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
index 1b67a3887c..77ca4270f4 100644
--- a/builtin/submodule--helper.c
+++ b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
@@ -2594,9 +2594,6 @@ static int run_update_procedure(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		OPT_CALLBACK_F(0, "oid", &update_data.oid, N_("sha1"),
 			       N_("SHA1 expected by superproject"), PARSE_OPT_NONEG,
 			       parse_opt_object_id),
-		OPT_CALLBACK_F(0, "suboid", &update_data.suboid, N_("subsha1"),
-			       N_("SHA1 of submodule's HEAD"), PARSE_OPT_NONEG,
-			       parse_opt_object_id),
 		OPT_END()
 	};
 
@@ -3032,6 +3029,12 @@ static int module_create_branch(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 /* NEEDSWORK: this is a temporary name until we delete update_submodule() */
 static int update_submodule2(struct update_data *update_data)
 {
+	if (update_data->just_cloned)
+		oidcpy(&update_data->suboid, null_oid());
+	else if (resolve_gitlink_ref(update_data->sm_path, "HEAD", &update_data->suboid))
+		die(_("Unable to find current revision in submodule path '%s'"),
+			update_data->displaypath);
+
 	if (!oideq(&update_data->oid, &update_data->suboid) || update_data->force)
 		return do_run_update_procedure(update_data);
 
diff --git a/git-submodule.sh b/git-submodule.sh
index 87772ac891..32a09302ab 100755
--- a/git-submodule.sh
+++ b/git-submodule.sh
@@ -406,14 +406,9 @@ cmd_update()
 
 		displaypath=$(git submodule--helper relative-path "$prefix$sm_path" "$wt_prefix")
 
-		if test $just_cloned -eq 1
+		if test $just_cloned -eq 0
 		then
-			subsha1=
-		else
 			just_cloned=
-			subsha1=$(sanitize_submodule_env; cd "$sm_path" &&
-				git rev-parse --verify HEAD) ||
-			die "fatal: $(eval_gettext "Unable to find current revision in submodule path '\$displaypath'")"
 		fi
 
 		if test -n "$remote"
@@ -441,7 +436,6 @@ cmd_update()
 			  ${update:+--update "$update"} \
 			  ${prefix:+--recursive-prefix "$prefix"} \
 			  ${sha1:+--oid "$sha1"} \
-			  ${subsha1:+--suboid "$subsha1"} \
 			  "--" \
 			  "$sm_path")