diff --git a/builtin/grep.c b/builtin/grep.c
index 837836fb3e..a9e82dc975 100644
--- a/builtin/grep.c
+++ b/builtin/grep.c
@@ -538,7 +538,7 @@ static int grep_submodule_launch(struct grep_opt *opt,
 	int status, i;
 	const char *end_of_base;
 	const char *name;
-	struct work_item *w = opt->output_priv;
+	struct strbuf child_output = STRBUF_INIT;
 
 	end_of_base = strchr(gs->name, ':');
 	if (gs->identifier && end_of_base)
@@ -593,14 +593,16 @@ static int grep_submodule_launch(struct grep_opt *opt,
 	 * child process.  A '0' indicates a hit, a '1' indicates no hit and
 	 * anything else is an error.
 	 */
-	status = capture_command(&cp, &w->out, 0);
+	status = capture_command(&cp, &child_output, 0);
 	if (status && (status != 1)) {
 		/* flush the buffer */
-		write_or_die(1, w->out.buf, w->out.len);
+		write_or_die(1, child_output.buf, child_output.len);
 		die("process for submodule '%s' failed with exit code: %d",
 		    gs->name, status);
 	}
 
+	opt->output(opt, child_output.buf, child_output.len);
+	strbuf_release(&child_output);
 	/* invert the return code to make a hit equal to 1 */
 	return !status;
 }
@@ -641,19 +643,14 @@ static int grep_submodule(struct grep_opt *opt, const unsigned char *sha1,
 	} else
 #endif
 	{
-		struct work_item w;
+		struct grep_source gs;
 		int hit;
 
-		grep_source_init(&w.source, GREP_SOURCE_SUBMODULE,
+		grep_source_init(&gs, GREP_SOURCE_SUBMODULE,
 				 filename, path, sha1);
-		strbuf_init(&w.out, 0);
-		opt->output_priv = &w;
-		hit = grep_submodule_launch(opt, &w.source);
+		hit = grep_submodule_launch(opt, &gs);
 
-		write_or_die(1, w.out.buf, w.out.len);
-
-		grep_source_clear(&w.source);
-		strbuf_release(&w.out);
+		grep_source_clear(&gs);
 		return hit;
 	}
 }
diff --git a/grep.c b/grep.c
index 0dbdc1d007..56ef0ecbff 100644
--- a/grep.c
+++ b/grep.c
@@ -12,6 +12,11 @@ static int grep_source_is_binary(struct grep_source *gs);
 
 static struct grep_opt grep_defaults;
 
+static void std_output(struct grep_opt *opt, const void *buf, size_t size)
+{
+	fwrite(buf, size, 1, stdout);
+}
+
 /*
  * Initialize the grep_defaults template with hardcoded defaults.
  * We could let the compiler do this, but without C99 initializers
@@ -42,6 +47,7 @@ void init_grep_defaults(void)
 	color_set(opt->color_selected, "");
 	color_set(opt->color_sep, GIT_COLOR_CYAN);
 	opt->color = -1;
+	opt->output = std_output;
 }
 
 static int parse_pattern_type_arg(const char *opt, const char *arg)
@@ -152,6 +158,7 @@ void grep_init(struct grep_opt *opt, const char *prefix)
 	opt->pathname = def->pathname;
 	opt->regflags = def->regflags;
 	opt->relative = def->relative;
+	opt->output = def->output;
 
 	color_set(opt->color_context, def->color_context);
 	color_set(opt->color_filename, def->color_filename);
@@ -1379,11 +1386,6 @@ static int look_ahead(struct grep_opt *opt,
 	return 0;
 }
 
-static void std_output(struct grep_opt *opt, const void *buf, size_t size)
-{
-	fwrite(buf, size, 1, stdout);
-}
-
 static int fill_textconv_grep(struct userdiff_driver *driver,
 			      struct grep_source *gs)
 {