diff --git a/assets/chezmoi.io/docs/reference/commands/update.md b/assets/chezmoi.io/docs/reference/commands/update.md
index 56b06ed0bef..9377603143c 100644
--- a/assets/chezmoi.io/docs/reference/commands/update.md
+++ b/assets/chezmoi.io/docs/reference/commands/update.md
@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@ Pull changes from the source repo and apply any changes.
 
 Only update entries of type *types*.
 
+## `--recurse-submodules` *bool*
+
+Update submodules recursively. This defaults to `true`.
+
 !!! example
 
     ```console
diff --git a/assets/chezmoi.io/docs/reference/configuration-file/variables.md.yaml b/assets/chezmoi.io/docs/reference/configuration-file/variables.md.yaml
index f47e364ab34..65431da5a08 100644
--- a/assets/chezmoi.io/docs/reference/configuration-file/variables.md.yaml
+++ b/assets/chezmoi.io/docs/reference/configuration-file/variables.md.yaml
@@ -266,6 +266,11 @@ sections:
     command:
       default: "`vault`"
       description: "Vault CLI command"
+  update:
+    recurseSubmodules:
+      type: "bool"
+      default: "`true`"
+      description: "Update submodules recursively"
   verify:
     exclude:
       type: "[]string"
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/config.go b/pkg/cmd/config.go
index 0fb71b29d9b..b5790dddad2 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/config.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/config.go
@@ -126,6 +126,7 @@ type ConfigFile struct {
 	Git        gitCmdConfig        `mapstructure:"git"`
 	Merge      mergeCmdConfig      `mapstructure:"merge"`
 	Status     statusCmdConfig     `mapstructure:"status"`
+	Update     updateCmdConfig     `mapstructure:"update"`
 	Verify     verifyCmdConfig     `mapstructure:"verify"`
 }
 
@@ -167,7 +168,6 @@ type Config struct {
 	remove          removeCmdConfig
 	secret          secretCmdConfig
 	state           stateCmdConfig
-	update          updateCmdConfig
 	upgrade         upgradeCmdConfig
 
 	// Version information.
@@ -315,11 +315,6 @@ func newConfig(options ...configOption) (*Config, error) {
 		reAdd: reAddCmdConfig{
 			filter: chezmoi.NewEntryTypeFilter(chezmoi.EntryTypesAll, chezmoi.EntryTypesNone),
 		},
-		update: updateCmdConfig{
-			apply:     true,
-			filter:    chezmoi.NewEntryTypeFilter(chezmoi.EntryTypesAll, chezmoi.EntryTypesNone),
-			recursive: true,
-		},
 		upgrade: upgradeCmdConfig{
 			owner: gitHubOwner,
 			repo:  gitHubRepo,
@@ -2409,6 +2404,12 @@ func newConfigFile(bds *xdg.BaseDirectorySpecification) ConfigFile {
 			include:   chezmoi.NewEntryTypeSet(chezmoi.EntryTypesAll),
 			recursive: true,
 		},
+		Update: updateCmdConfig{
+			RecurseSubmodules: true,
+			apply:             true,
+			filter:            chezmoi.NewEntryTypeFilter(chezmoi.EntryTypesAll, chezmoi.EntryTypesNone),
+			recursive:         true,
+		},
 		Verify: verifyCmdConfig{
 			Exclude:   chezmoi.NewEntryTypeSet(chezmoi.EntryTypesNone),
 			include:   chezmoi.NewEntryTypeSet(chezmoi.EntryTypesAll),
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/updatecmd.go b/pkg/cmd/updatecmd.go
index 6406677b903..66ebf00b0ea 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/updatecmd.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/updatecmd.go
@@ -10,10 +10,11 @@ import (
 )
 
 type updateCmdConfig struct {
-	apply     bool
-	filter    *chezmoi.EntryTypeFilter
-	init      bool
-	recursive bool
+	RecurseSubmodules bool
+	apply             bool
+	filter            *chezmoi.EntryTypeFilter
+	init              bool
+	recursive         bool
 }
 
 func (c *Config) newUpdateCmd() *cobra.Command {
@@ -34,11 +35,12 @@ func (c *Config) newUpdateCmd() *cobra.Command {
 	}
 
 	flags := updateCmd.Flags()
-	flags.BoolVarP(&c.update.apply, "apply", "a", c.update.apply, "Apply after pulling")
-	flags.VarP(c.update.filter.Exclude, "exclude", "x", "Exclude entry types")
-	flags.VarP(c.update.filter.Include, "include", "i", "Include entry types")
-	flags.BoolVar(&c.update.init, "init", c.update.init, "Recreate config file from template")
-	flags.BoolVarP(&c.update.recursive, "recursive", "r", c.update.recursive, "Recurse into subdirectories")
+	flags.BoolVarP(&c.Update.apply, "apply", "a", c.Update.apply, "Apply after pulling")
+	flags.VarP(c.Update.filter.Exclude, "exclude", "x", "Exclude entry types")
+	flags.VarP(c.Update.filter.Include, "include", "i", "Include entry types")
+	flags.BoolVar(&c.Update.init, "init", c.Update.init, "Recreate config file from template")
+	flags.BoolVar(&c.Update.RecurseSubmodules, "recurse-submodules", c.Update.RecurseSubmodules, "Recursively update submodules") //nolint:lll
+	flags.BoolVarP(&c.Update.recursive, "recursive", "r", c.Update.recursive, "Recurse into subdirectories")
 
 	registerExcludeIncludeFlagCompletionFuncs(updateCmd)
 
@@ -69,18 +71,22 @@ func (c *Config) runUpdateCmd(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 			"pull",
 			"--autostash",
 			"--rebase",
-			"--recurse-submodules",
+		}
+		if c.Update.RecurseSubmodules {
+			args = append(args,
+				"--recurse-submodules",
+			)
 		}
 		if err := c.run(c.WorkingTreeAbsPath, c.Git.Command, args); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 	}
 
-	if c.update.apply {
+	if c.Update.apply {
 		if err := c.applyArgs(cmd.Context(), c.destSystem, c.DestDirAbsPath, args, applyArgsOptions{
-			filter:       c.update.filter,
-			init:         c.update.init,
-			recursive:    c.update.recursive,
+			filter:       c.Update.filter,
+			init:         c.Update.init,
+			recursive:    c.Update.recursive,
 			umask:        c.Umask,
 			preApplyFunc: c.defaultPreApplyFunc,
 		}); err != nil {