diff --git a/builtin/submodule--helper.c b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
index f4c3eff179..1e18075ed9 100644
--- a/builtin/submodule--helper.c
+++ b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
@@ -194,6 +194,10 @@ static int module_clone(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, module_clone_options,
 			     git_submodule_helper_usage, 0);
 
+	if (argc)
+		usage_with_options(git_submodule_helper_usage,
+				   module_clone_options);
+
 	strbuf_addf(&sb, "%s/modules/%s", get_git_dir(), name);
 	sm_gitdir = strbuf_detach(&sb, NULL);