diff --git a/Documentation/diff-options.txt b/Documentation/diff-options.txt
index e745a3ccdc..2371262b10 100644
--- a/Documentation/diff-options.txt
+++ b/Documentation/diff-options.txt
@@ -328,8 +328,14 @@ endif::git-format-patch[]
 --no-ext-diff::
 	Disallow external diff drivers.
 
---ignore-submodules::
-	Ignore changes to submodules in the diff generation.
+--ignore-submodules[=<when>]::
+	Ignore changes to submodules in the diff generation. <when> can be
+	either "untracked", "dirty" or "all", which is the default. When
+	"untracked" is used submodules are not considered dirty when they only
+	contain untracked content (but they are still scanned for modified
+	content). Using "dirty" ignores all changes to the work tree of submodules,
+	only changes to the commits stored in the superproject are shown (this was
+	the behavior until 1.7.0). Using "all" hides all changes to submodules.
 
 --src-prefix=<prefix>::
 	Show the given source prefix instead of "a/".
diff --git a/diff-lib.c b/diff-lib.c
index c9f6e05bad..8b8978ae6d 100644
--- a/diff-lib.c
+++ b/diff-lib.c
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ static int match_stat_with_submodule(struct diff_options *diffopt,
 	int changed = ce_match_stat(ce, st, ce_option);
 	if (S_ISGITLINK(ce->ce_mode)
 	    && !DIFF_OPT_TST(diffopt, IGNORE_SUBMODULES)
+	    && !DIFF_OPT_TST(diffopt, IGNORE_DIRTY_SUBMODULES)
 	    && (!changed || DIFF_OPT_TST(diffopt, DIRTY_SUBMODULES))) {
 		*dirty_submodule = is_submodule_modified(ce->name, DIFF_OPT_TST(diffopt, IGNORE_UNTRACKED_IN_SUBMODULES));
 	}
diff --git a/diff.c b/diff.c
index 2332fa6798..9d70f9d731 100644
--- a/diff.c
+++ b/diff.c
@@ -3169,7 +3169,16 @@ int diff_opt_parse(struct diff_options *options, const char **av, int ac)
 		DIFF_OPT_CLR(options, ALLOW_TEXTCONV);
 	else if (!strcmp(arg, "--ignore-submodules"))
 		DIFF_OPT_SET(options, IGNORE_SUBMODULES);
-	else if (!strcmp(arg, "--submodule"))
+	else if (!prefixcmp(arg, "--ignore-submodules=")) {
+		if (!strcmp(arg + 20, "all"))
+			DIFF_OPT_SET(options, IGNORE_SUBMODULES);
+		else if (!strcmp(arg + 20, "untracked"))
+			DIFF_OPT_SET(options, IGNORE_UNTRACKED_IN_SUBMODULES);
+		else if (!strcmp(arg + 20, "dirty"))
+			DIFF_OPT_SET(options, IGNORE_DIRTY_SUBMODULES);
+		else
+			die("bad --ignore-submodules argument: %s", arg + 20);
+	} else if (!strcmp(arg, "--submodule"))
 		DIFF_OPT_SET(options, SUBMODULE_LOG);
 	else if (!prefixcmp(arg, "--submodule=")) {
 		if (!strcmp(arg + 12, "log"))
diff --git a/t/t4027-diff-submodule.sh b/t/t4027-diff-submodule.sh
index 83c1914771..1bd8e5ee3a 100755
--- a/t/t4027-diff-submodule.sh
+++ b/t/t4027-diff-submodule.sh
@@ -103,7 +103,15 @@ test_expect_success 'git diff HEAD with dirty submodule (work tree, refs match)'
 	git diff HEAD >actual &&
 	sed -e "1,/^@@/d" actual >actual.body &&
 	expect_from_to >expect.body $subprev $subprev-dirty &&
-	test_cmp expect.body actual.body
+	test_cmp expect.body actual.body &&
+	git diff --ignore-submodules HEAD >actual2 &&
+	! test -s actual2 &&
+	git diff --ignore-submodules=untracked HEAD >actual3 &&
+	sed -e "1,/^@@/d" actual3 >actual3.body &&
+	expect_from_to >expect.body $subprev $subprev-dirty &&
+	test_cmp expect.body actual3.body &&
+	git diff --ignore-submodules=dirty HEAD >actual4 &&
+	! test -s actual4
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'git diff HEAD with dirty submodule (index, refs match)' '
@@ -129,7 +137,13 @@ test_expect_success 'git diff HEAD with dirty submodule (untracked, refs match)'
 	git diff HEAD >actual &&
 	sed -e "1,/^@@/d" actual >actual.body &&
 	expect_from_to >expect.body $subprev $subprev-dirty &&
-	test_cmp expect.body actual.body
+	test_cmp expect.body actual.body &&
+	git diff --ignore-submodules=all HEAD >actual2 &&
+	! test -s actual2 &&
+	git diff --ignore-submodules=untracked HEAD >actual3 &&
+	! test -s actual3 &&
+	git diff --ignore-submodules=dirty HEAD >actual4 &&
+	! test -s actual4
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'git diff (empty submodule dir)' '
diff --git a/t/t4041-diff-submodule.sh b/t/t4041-diff-submodule-option.sh
similarity index 74%
rename from t/t4041-diff-submodule.sh
rename to t/t4041-diff-submodule-option.sh
index 019acb926d..8e391cf9a7 100755
--- a/t/t4041-diff-submodule.sh
+++ b/t/t4041-diff-submodule-option.sh
@@ -205,6 +205,21 @@ Submodule sm1 contains untracked content
 EOF
 "
 
+test_expect_success 'submodule contains untracked content (untracked ignored)' "
+	git diff-index -p --ignore-submodules=untracked --submodule=log HEAD >actual &&
+	! test -s actual
+"
+
+test_expect_success 'submodule contains untracked content (dirty ignored)' "
+	git diff-index -p --ignore-submodules=dirty --submodule=log HEAD >actual &&
+	! test -s actual
+"
+
+test_expect_success 'submodule contains untracked content (all ignored)' "
+	git diff-index -p --ignore-submodules=all --submodule=log HEAD >actual &&
+	! test -s actual
+"
+
 test_expect_success 'submodule contains untracked and modifed content' "
 	echo new > sm1/foo6 &&
 	git diff-index -p --submodule=log HEAD >actual &&
@@ -214,6 +229,26 @@ Submodule sm1 contains modified content
 EOF
 "
 
+test_expect_success 'submodule contains untracked and modifed content (untracked ignored)' "
+	echo new > sm1/foo6 &&
+	git diff-index -p --ignore-submodules=untracked --submodule=log HEAD >actual &&
+	diff actual - <<-EOF
+Submodule sm1 contains modified content
+EOF
+"
+
+test_expect_success 'submodule contains untracked and modifed content (dirty ignored)' "
+	echo new > sm1/foo6 &&
+	git diff-index -p --ignore-submodules=dirty --submodule=log HEAD >actual &&
+	! test -s actual
+"
+
+test_expect_success 'submodule contains untracked and modifed content (all ignored)' "
+	echo new > sm1/foo6 &&
+	git diff-index -p --ignore-submodules --submodule=log HEAD >actual &&
+	! test -s actual
+"
+
 test_expect_success 'submodule contains modifed content' "
 	rm -f sm1/new-file &&
 	git diff-index -p --submodule=log HEAD >actual &&
@@ -242,6 +277,27 @@ Submodule sm1 $head6..$head8:
 EOF
 "
 
+test_expect_success 'modified submodule contains untracked content (untracked ignored)' "
+	git diff-index -p --ignore-submodules=untracked --submodule=log HEAD >actual &&
+	diff actual - <<-EOF
+Submodule sm1 $head6..$head8:
+  > change
+EOF
+"
+
+test_expect_success 'modified submodule contains untracked content (dirty ignored)' "
+	git diff-index -p --ignore-submodules=dirty --submodule=log HEAD >actual &&
+	diff actual - <<-EOF
+Submodule sm1 $head6..$head8:
+  > change
+EOF
+"
+
+test_expect_success 'modified submodule contains untracked content (all ignored)' "
+	git diff-index -p --ignore-submodules=all --submodule=log HEAD >actual &&
+	! test -s actual
+"
+
 test_expect_success 'modified submodule contains untracked and modifed content' "
 	echo modification >> sm1/foo6 &&
 	git diff-index -p --submodule=log HEAD >actual &&
@@ -253,6 +309,31 @@ Submodule sm1 $head6..$head8:
 EOF
 "
 
+test_expect_success 'modified submodule contains untracked and modifed content (untracked ignored)' "
+	echo modification >> sm1/foo6 &&
+	git diff-index -p --ignore-submodules=untracked --submodule=log HEAD >actual &&
+	diff actual - <<-EOF
+Submodule sm1 contains modified content
+Submodule sm1 $head6..$head8:
+  > change
+EOF
+"
+
+test_expect_success 'modified submodule contains untracked and modifed content (dirty ignored)' "
+	echo modification >> sm1/foo6 &&
+	git diff-index -p --ignore-submodules=dirty --submodule=log HEAD >actual &&
+	diff actual - <<-EOF
+Submodule sm1 $head6..$head8:
+  > change
+EOF
+"
+
+test_expect_success 'modified submodule contains untracked and modifed content (all ignored)' "
+	echo modification >> sm1/foo6 &&
+	git diff-index -p --ignore-submodules --submodule=log HEAD >actual &&
+	! test -s actual
+"
+
 test_expect_success 'modified submodule contains modifed content' "
 	rm -f sm1/new-file &&
 	git diff-index -p --submodule=log HEAD >actual &&