diff --git a/Documentation/technical/api-parse-options.adoc b/Documentation/technical/api-parse-options.adoc
index 95b7924e84..6dfea34220 100644
--- a/Documentation/technical/api-parse-options.adoc
+++ b/Documentation/technical/api-parse-options.adoc
@@ -243,6 +243,7 @@ with `flags` set to `0`.
 	Start an option group. `description` is a short string that
 	describes the group or an empty string.
 	Start the description with an upper-case letter.
+	Groups apply to options and subcommands that have a help string.
 
 `OPT_HIDDEN_GROUP(description)`::
 	Like `OPT_GROUP()`, but the group header carries
@@ -362,7 +363,8 @@ with `flags` set to `0`.
 
 `OPT_SUBCOMMAND(long, &fn_ptr, subcommand_fn)`::
 	Define a subcommand.  `subcommand_fn` is put into `fn_ptr` when
-	this subcommand is used.
+	this subcommand is used. The subcommand is not listed in the
+	usage output.
 
 The last element of the array must be `OPT_END()`.
 
diff --git a/builtin/remote.c b/builtin/remote.c
index de989ea3ba..fb7e5b114f 100644
--- a/builtin/remote.c
+++ b/builtin/remote.c
@@ -1940,7 +1940,7 @@ int cmd_remote(int argc,
 		OPT__VERBOSE(&verbose, N_("be verbose; must be placed before a subcommand")),
 		OPT_SUBCOMMAND("add", &fn, add),
 		OPT_SUBCOMMAND("rename", &fn, mv),
-		OPT_SUBCOMMAND_F("rm", &fn, rm, PARSE_OPT_NOCOMPLETE),
+		OPT_SUBCOMMAND_F("rm", &fn, rm, NULL, PARSE_OPT_NOCOMPLETE),
 		OPT_SUBCOMMAND("remove", &fn, rm),
 		OPT_SUBCOMMAND("set-head", &fn, set_head),
 		OPT_SUBCOMMAND("set-branches", &fn, set_branches),
diff --git a/builtin/stash.c b/builtin/stash.c
index 7a9843413b..8d606ee11d 100644
--- a/builtin/stash.c
+++ b/builtin/stash.c
@@ -2475,7 +2475,7 @@ int cmd_stash(int argc,
 		OPT_SUBCOMMAND("push", &fn, push_stash_unassumed),
 		OPT_SUBCOMMAND("export", &fn, export_stash),
 		OPT_SUBCOMMAND("import", &fn, import_stash),
-		OPT_SUBCOMMAND_F("save", &fn, save_stash, PARSE_OPT_NOCOMPLETE),
+		OPT_SUBCOMMAND_F("save", &fn, save_stash, NULL, PARSE_OPT_NOCOMPLETE),
 		OPT_END()
 	};
 	const char **args_copy;
diff --git a/parse-options.c b/parse-options.c
index fdcb29f2a1..2b59932d2c 100644
--- a/parse-options.c
+++ b/parse-options.c
@@ -1366,7 +1366,7 @@ static void usage_print_option(const struct option *opt,
 	const char *cp, *np;
 	size_t pos;
 
-	if (opt->type == OPTION_SUBCOMMAND)
+	if (opt->type == OPTION_SUBCOMMAND && !opt->help)
 		return;
 	if (!full && (opt->flags & PARSE_OPT_HIDDEN))
 		return;
@@ -1384,7 +1384,10 @@ static void usage_print_option(const struct option *opt,
 	}
 
 	pos = usage_indent(outfile);
-	pos += usage_print_flag(opt, outfile, &positive_name);
+	if (opt->type == OPTION_SUBCOMMAND)
+		pos += fprintf(outfile, "%s", opt->long_name);
+	else
+		pos += usage_print_flag(opt, outfile, &positive_name);
 
 	if (opt->type == OPTION_ALIAS) {
 		usage_padding(outfile, pos);
diff --git a/parse-options.h b/parse-options.h
index d7f896a933..99c12c77cb 100644
--- a/parse-options.h
+++ b/parse-options.h
@@ -393,14 +393,15 @@ static char *parse_options_noop_ignored_value MAYBE_UNUSED;
 	.value = (char *)(source_long_name), \
 }
 
-#define OPT_SUBCOMMAND_F(l, v, fn, f) { \
+#define OPT_SUBCOMMAND_F(l, v, fn, h, f) { \
 	.type = OPTION_SUBCOMMAND, \
 	.long_name = (l), \
 	.value = (v), \
+	.help = (h), \
 	.flags = (f), \
 	.subcommand_fn = (fn), \
 }
-#define OPT_SUBCOMMAND(l, v, fn)    OPT_SUBCOMMAND_F((l), (v), (fn), 0)
+#define OPT_SUBCOMMAND(l, v, fn)    OPT_SUBCOMMAND_F((l), (v), (fn), NULL, 0)
 
 /*
  * parse_options() will filter out the processed options and leave the
diff --git a/t/helper/test-parse-options.c b/t/helper/test-parse-options.c
index fbafd67756..950db78673 100644
--- a/t/helper/test-parse-options.c
+++ b/t/helper/test-parse-options.c
@@ -352,8 +352,9 @@ static int parse_subcommand__cmd(int argc, const char **argv,
 	int opt = 0;
 	struct option options[] = {
 		OPT_GROUP("Subcommands"),
-		OPT_SUBCOMMAND("subcmd-one", &fn, subcmd_one),
+		OPT_SUBCOMMAND_F("subcmd-one", &fn, subcmd_one, "the first subcommand", 0),
 		OPT_SUBCOMMAND("subcmd-two", &fn, subcmd_two),
+		OPT_GROUP("Options"),
 		OPT_INTEGER('o', "opt", &opt, "an integer option"),
 		OPT_END()
 	};
diff --git a/t/t0040-parse-options.sh b/t/t0040-parse-options.sh
index 449fff4d34..ec55bb1414 100755
--- a/t/t0040-parse-options.sh
+++ b/t/t0040-parse-options.sh
@@ -629,6 +629,22 @@ test_expect_success 'KEEP_UNKNOWN_OPT | NO_INTERNAL_HELP works' '
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'subcommand - usage lists subcommands with help text under their group' '
+	test-tool parse-subcommand cmd -h >actual &&
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	usage: <...> cmd subcmd-one
+	   or: <...> cmd subcmd-two
+
+	Subcommands
+	    subcmd-one            the first subcommand
+
+	Options
+	    -o, --[no-]opt <n>    an integer option
+
+	EOF
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'subcommand - no subcommand shows error and usage' '
 	test_expect_code 129 test-tool parse-subcommand cmd 2>err &&
 	test_grep "^error: need a subcommand" err &&