diff --git a/git-submodule.sh b/git-submodule.sh
index 100737210d..4032830907 100755
--- a/git-submodule.sh
+++ b/git-submodule.sh
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ resolve_relative_url ()
 module_name()
 {
 	# Do we have "submodule.<something>.path = $1" defined in .gitmodules file?
-	re=$(printf '%s' "$1" | sed -e 's/[].[^$\\*]/\\&/g')
+	re=$(printf '%s\n' "$1" | sed -e 's/[].[^$\\*]/\\&/g')
 	name=$( git config -f .gitmodules --get-regexp '^submodule\..*\.path$' |
 		sed -n -e 's|^submodule\.\(.*\)\.path '"$re"'$|\1|p' )
        test -z "$name" &&