diff --git a/builtin/submodule--helper.c b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
index d60f6cd9de..fac52ade5e 100644
--- a/builtin/submodule--helper.c
+++ b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
@@ -118,10 +118,11 @@ static int resolve_relative_url_test(int argc, const char **argv, const char *pr
 	return 0;
 }
 
-static char *do_get_submodule_displaypath(const char *path,
-					  const char *prefix,
-					  const char *super_prefix)
+/* the result should be freed by the caller. */
+static char *get_submodule_displaypath(const char *path, const char *prefix)
 {
+	const char *super_prefix = get_super_prefix();
+
 	if (prefix && super_prefix) {
 		BUG("cannot have prefix '%s' and superprefix '%s'",
 		    prefix, super_prefix);
@@ -137,13 +138,6 @@ static char *do_get_submodule_displaypath(const char *path,
 	}
 }
 
-/* the result should be freed by the caller. */
-static char *get_submodule_displaypath(const char *path, const char *prefix)
-{
-	const char *super_prefix = get_super_prefix();
-	return do_get_submodule_displaypath(path, prefix, super_prefix);
-}
-
 static char *compute_rev_name(const char *sub_path, const char* object_id)
 {
 	struct strbuf sb = STRBUF_INIT;
@@ -477,22 +471,18 @@ static int starts_with_dot_dot_slash(const char *const path)
 
 struct init_cb {
 	const char *prefix;
-	const char *superprefix;
 	unsigned int flags;
 };
 #define INIT_CB_INIT { 0 }
 
 static void init_submodule(const char *path, const char *prefix,
-			   const char *superprefix, unsigned int flags)
+			   unsigned int flags)
 {
 	const struct submodule *sub;
 	struct strbuf sb = STRBUF_INIT;
 	char *upd = NULL, *url = NULL, *displaypath;
 
-	/* try superprefix from the environment, if it is not passed explicitly */
-	if (!superprefix)
-		superprefix = get_super_prefix();
-	displaypath = do_get_submodule_displaypath(path, prefix, superprefix);
+	displaypath = get_submodule_displaypath(path, prefix);
 
 	sub = submodule_from_path(the_repository, null_oid(), path);
 
@@ -566,7 +556,7 @@ static void init_submodule(const char *path, const char *prefix,
 static void init_submodule_cb(const struct cache_entry *list_item, void *cb_data)
 {
 	struct init_cb *info = cb_data;
-	init_submodule(list_item->name, info->prefix, info->superprefix, info->flags);
+	init_submodule(list_item->name, info->prefix, info->flags);
 }
 
 static int module_init(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
@@ -1878,7 +1868,6 @@ struct submodule_update_clone {
 
 struct update_data {
 	const char *prefix;
-	const char *recursive_prefix;
 	const char *displaypath;
 	enum submodule_update_type update_default;
 	struct object_id suboid;
@@ -1947,30 +1936,20 @@ static int prepare_to_clone_next_submodule(const struct cache_entry *ce,
 	const char *update_string;
 	enum submodule_update_type update_type;
 	char *key;
-	struct strbuf displaypath_sb = STRBUF_INIT;
+	struct update_data *ud = suc->update_data;
+	char *displaypath = get_submodule_displaypath(ce->name, ud->prefix);
 	struct strbuf sb = STRBUF_INIT;
-	const char *displaypath = NULL;
 	int needs_cloning = 0;
 	int need_free_url = 0;
 
 	if (ce_stage(ce)) {
-		if (suc->update_data->recursive_prefix)
-			strbuf_addf(&sb, "%s/%s", suc->update_data->recursive_prefix, ce->name);
-		else
-			strbuf_addstr(&sb, ce->name);
-		strbuf_addf(out, _("Skipping unmerged submodule %s"), sb.buf);
+		strbuf_addf(out, _("Skipping unmerged submodule %s"), displaypath);
 		strbuf_addch(out, '\n');
 		goto cleanup;
 	}
 
 	sub = submodule_from_path(the_repository, null_oid(), ce->name);
 
-	if (suc->update_data->recursive_prefix)
-		displaypath = relative_path(suc->update_data->recursive_prefix,
-					    ce->name, &displaypath_sb);
-	else
-		displaypath = ce->name;
-
 	if (!sub) {
 		next_submodule_warn_missing(suc, out, displaypath);
 		goto cleanup;
@@ -2060,7 +2039,7 @@ static int prepare_to_clone_next_submodule(const struct cache_entry *ce,
 					      "--no-single-branch");
 
 cleanup:
-	strbuf_release(&displaypath_sb);
+	free(displaypath);
 	strbuf_release(&sb);
 	if (need_free_url)
 		free((void*)url);
@@ -2424,11 +2403,12 @@ static void update_data_to_args(struct update_data *update_data, struct strvec *
 {
 	enum submodule_update_type update_type = update_data->update_default;
 
+	if (update_data->displaypath) {
+		strvec_push(args, "--super-prefix");
+		strvec_pushf(args, "%s/", update_data->displaypath);
+	}
 	strvec_pushl(args, "submodule--helper", "update", "--recursive", NULL);
 	strvec_pushf(args, "--jobs=%d", update_data->max_jobs);
-	if (update_data->recursive_prefix)
-		strvec_pushl(args, "--recursive-prefix",
-			     update_data->recursive_prefix, NULL);
 	if (update_data->quiet)
 		strvec_push(args, "--quiet");
 	if (update_data->force)
@@ -2472,19 +2452,10 @@ static void update_data_to_args(struct update_data *update_data, struct strvec *
 
 static int update_submodule(struct update_data *update_data)
 {
-	char *prefixed_path;
-
 	ensure_core_worktree(update_data->sm_path);
 
-	if (update_data->recursive_prefix)
-		prefixed_path = xstrfmt("%s%s", update_data->recursive_prefix,
-					update_data->sm_path);
-	else
-		prefixed_path = xstrdup(update_data->sm_path);
-
-	update_data->displaypath = get_submodule_displaypath(prefixed_path,
-							     update_data->prefix);
-	free(prefixed_path);
+	update_data->displaypath = get_submodule_displaypath(
+		update_data->sm_path, update_data->prefix);
 
 	determine_submodule_update_strategy(the_repository, update_data->just_cloned,
 					    update_data->sm_path, update_data->update_default,
@@ -2524,14 +2495,6 @@ static int update_submodule(struct update_data *update_data)
 		struct update_data next = *update_data;
 		int res;
 
-		if (update_data->recursive_prefix)
-			prefixed_path = xstrfmt("%s%s/", update_data->recursive_prefix,
-						update_data->sm_path);
-		else
-			prefixed_path = xstrfmt("%s/", update_data->sm_path);
-
-		next.recursive_prefix = get_submodule_displaypath(prefixed_path,
-								  update_data->prefix);
 		next.prefix = NULL;
 		oidcpy(&next.oid, null_oid());
 		oidcpy(&next.suboid, null_oid());
@@ -2616,10 +2579,6 @@ static int module_update(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		OPT_STRING(0, "prefix", &opt.prefix,
 			   N_("path"),
 			   N_("path into the working tree")),
-		OPT_STRING(0, "recursive-prefix", &opt.recursive_prefix,
-			   N_("path"),
-			   N_("path into the working tree, across nested "
-			      "submodule boundaries")),
 		OPT_SET_INT(0, "checkout", &opt.update_default,
 			N_("use the 'checkout' update strategy (default)"),
 			SM_UPDATE_CHECKOUT),
@@ -2705,7 +2664,6 @@ static int module_update(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 			module_list_active(&list);
 
 		info.prefix = opt.prefix;
-		info.superprefix = opt.recursive_prefix;
 		if (opt.quiet)
 			info.flags |= OPT_QUIET;
 
@@ -3402,16 +3360,16 @@ struct cmd_struct {
 static struct cmd_struct commands[] = {
 	{"list", module_list, 0},
 	{"name", module_name, 0},
-	{"clone", module_clone, 0},
-	{"add", module_add, SUPPORT_SUPER_PREFIX},
-	{"update", module_update, 0},
+	{"clone", module_clone, SUPPORT_SUPER_PREFIX},
+	{"add", module_add, 0},
+	{"update", module_update, SUPPORT_SUPER_PREFIX},
 	{"resolve-relative-url-test", resolve_relative_url_test, 0},
 	{"foreach", module_foreach, SUPPORT_SUPER_PREFIX},
-	{"init", module_init, SUPPORT_SUPER_PREFIX},
+	{"init", module_init, 0},
 	{"status", module_status, SUPPORT_SUPER_PREFIX},
 	{"sync", module_sync, SUPPORT_SUPER_PREFIX},
 	{"deinit", module_deinit, 0},
-	{"summary", module_summary, SUPPORT_SUPER_PREFIX},
+	{"summary", module_summary, 0},
 	{"push-check", push_check, 0},
 	{"absorbgitdirs", absorb_git_dirs, SUPPORT_SUPER_PREFIX},
 	{"is-active", is_active, 0},
diff --git a/t/t7406-submodule-update.sh b/t/t7406-submodule-update.sh
index 06d804e213..6cc07460dd 100755
--- a/t/t7406-submodule-update.sh
+++ b/t/t7406-submodule-update.sh
@@ -1116,4 +1116,66 @@ test_expect_success 'submodule update --filter sets partial clone settings' '
 	test_cmp_config -C super-filter/submodule blob:none remote.origin.partialclonefilter
 '
 
+# NEEDSWORK: Clean up the tests so that we can reuse the test setup.
+# Don't reuse the existing repos because the earlier tests have
+# intentionally disruptive configurations.
+test_expect_success 'setup clean recursive superproject' '
+	git init bottom &&
+	test_commit -C bottom "bottom" &&
+	git init middle &&
+	git -C middle submodule add ../bottom bottom &&
+	git -C middle commit -m "middle" &&
+	git init top &&
+	git -C top submodule add ../middle middle &&
+	git -C top commit -m "top" &&
+	git clone --recurse-submodules top top-clean
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'submodule update should skip unmerged submodules' '
+	test_when_finished "rm -fr top-cloned" &&
+	cp -r top-clean top-cloned &&
+
+	# Create an upstream commit in each repo, starting with bottom
+	test_commit -C bottom upstream_commit &&
+	# Create middle commit
+	git -C middle/bottom fetch &&
+	git -C middle/bottom checkout -f FETCH_HEAD &&
+	git -C middle add bottom &&
+	git -C middle commit -m "upstream_commit" &&
+	# Create top commit
+	git -C top/middle fetch &&
+	git -C top/middle checkout -f FETCH_HEAD &&
+	git -C top add middle &&
+	git -C top commit -m "upstream_commit" &&
+
+	# Create a downstream conflict
+	test_commit -C top-cloned/middle/bottom downstream_commit &&
+	git -C top-cloned/middle add bottom &&
+	git -C top-cloned/middle commit -m "downstream_commit" &&
+	git -C top-cloned/middle fetch --recurse-submodules origin &&
+	test_must_fail git -C top-cloned/middle merge origin/main &&
+
+	# Make the update of "middle" a no-op, otherwise we error out
+	# because of its unmerged state
+	test_config -C top-cloned submodule.middle.update !true &&
+	git -C top-cloned submodule update --recursive 2>actual.err &&
+	cat >expect.err <<-\EOF &&
+	Skipping unmerged submodule middle/bottom
+	EOF
+	test_cmp expect.err actual.err
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'submodule update --recursive skip submodules with strategy=none' '
+	test_when_finished "rm -fr top-cloned" &&
+	cp -r top-clean top-cloned &&
+
+	test_commit -C top-cloned/middle/bottom downstream_commit &&
+	git -C top-cloned/middle config submodule.bottom.update none &&
+	git -C top-cloned submodule update --recursive 2>actual.err &&
+	cat >expect.err <<-\EOF &&
+	Skipping submodule '\''middle/bottom'\''
+	EOF
+	test_cmp expect.err actual.err
+'
+
 test_done