git submodule return status

@@ -103,13 +103,21 @@ resolve_relative_url ()
 	echo "${is_relative:+${up_path}}${remoteurl#./}"
 }
 
+module_list_ls_files() {
+	git ls-files --error-unmatch --stage -- "$@"
+}
+
+module_list_valid() {
+	module_list_ls_files "$@" >/dev/null
+}
+
 #
 # Get submodule info for registered submodules
 # $@ = path to limit submodule list
 #
 module_list()
 {
-	git ls-files --error-unmatch --stage -- "$@" |
+	module_list_ls_files "$@" |
 	perl -e '
 	my %unmerged = ();
 	my ($null_sha1) = ("0" x 40);

@@ -434,6 +442,8 @@ cmd_init()
 		shift
 	done
 
+	module_list_valid "$@" || exit 1
+
 	module_list "$@" |
 	while read mode sha1 stage sm_path
 	do

@@ -532,6 +542,8 @@ cmd_update()
 		cmd_init "--" "$@" || return
 	fi
 
+	module_list_valid "$@" || exit 1
+
 	cloned_modules=
 	module_list "$@" | {
 	err=

@@ -929,6 +941,8 @@ cmd_status()
 		shift
 	done
 
+	module_list_valid "$@" || exit 1
+
 	module_list "$@" |
 	while read mode sha1 stage sm_path
 	do

@@ -996,6 +1010,9 @@ cmd_sync()
 			;;
 		esac
 	done
+
+	module_list_valid "$@" || exit 1
+
 	cd_to_toplevel
 	module_list "$@" |
 	while read mode sha1 stage sm_path

@@ -258,6 +258,27 @@ test_expect_success 'init should register submodule url in .git/config' '
 	test_cmp expect url
 '
 
+test_failure_with_unknown_submodule() {
+	test_must_fail git submodule $1 no-such-submodule 2>output.err &&
+	grep "^error: .*no-such-submodule" output.err
+}
+
+test_expect_success 'init should fail with unknown submodule' '
+	test_failure_with_unknown_submodule init
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'update should fail with unknown submodule' '
+	test_failure_with_unknown_submodule update
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'status should fail with unknown submodule' '
+	test_failure_with_unknown_submodule status
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'sync should fail with unknown submodule' '
+	test_failure_with_unknown_submodule sync
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'update should fail when path is used by a file' '
 	echo hello >expect &&
 

@@ -418,10 +439,7 @@ test_expect_success 'moving to a commit without submodule does not leave empty d
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'submodule <invalid-path> warns' '
-
-	git submodule no-such-submodule 2> output.err &&
-	grep "^error: .*no-such-submodule" output.err
-
+	test_failure_with_unknown_submodule
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'add submodules without specifying an explicit path' '