diff --git a/builtin/submodule--helper.c b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
index e630f0c730eae7..9b25a508e6a7bb 100644
--- a/builtin/submodule--helper.c
+++ b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
@@ -1503,16 +1503,17 @@ static void deinit_submodule(const char *path, const char *prefix,
 		struct strbuf sb_rm = STRBUF_INIT;
 		const char *format;
 
-		/*
-		 * protect submodules containing a .git directory
-		 * NEEDSWORK: instead of dying, automatically call
-		 * absorbgitdirs and (possibly) warn.
-		 */
-		if (is_directory(sub_git_dir))
-			die(_("Submodule work tree '%s' contains a .git "
-			      "directory (use 'rm -rf' if you really want "
-			      "to remove it including all of its history)"),
-			    displaypath);
+		if (is_directory(sub_git_dir)) {
+			if (!(flags & OPT_QUIET))
+				warning(_("Submodule work tree '%s' contains a .git "
+					  "directory. This will be replaced with a "
+					  ".git file by using absorbgitdirs."),
+					displaypath);
+
+			absorb_git_dir_into_superproject(path,
+							 ABSORB_GITDIR_RECURSE_SUBMODULES);
+
+		}
 
 		if (!(flags & OPT_FORCE)) {
 			struct child_process cp_rm = CHILD_PROCESS_INIT;
diff --git a/t/t7400-submodule-basic.sh b/t/t7400-submodule-basic.sh
index cb1b8e35dbfa65..e7cec2e457af77 100755
--- a/t/t7400-submodule-basic.sh
+++ b/t/t7400-submodule-basic.sh
@@ -1182,18 +1182,17 @@ test_expect_success 'submodule deinit is silent when used on an uninitialized su
 	rmdir init example2
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'submodule deinit fails when submodule has a .git directory even when forced' '
+test_expect_success 'submodule deinit absorbs .git directory if .git is a directory' '
 	git submodule update --init &&
 	(
 		cd init &&
 		rm .git &&
-		cp -R ../.git/modules/example .git &&
+		mv ../.git/modules/example .git &&
 		GIT_WORK_TREE=. git config --unset core.worktree
 	) &&
-	test_must_fail git submodule deinit init &&
-	test_must_fail git submodule deinit -f init &&
-	test -d init/.git &&
-	test -n "$(git config --get-regexp "submodule\.example\.")"
+	git submodule deinit init &&
+	test_path_is_missing init/.git &&
+	test -z "$(git config --get-regexp "submodule\.example\.")"
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'submodule with UTF-8 name' '