diff --git a/src/git-auth-helper.ts b/src/git-auth-helper.ts
index 126e8e5..eafa009 100644
--- a/src/git-auth-helper.ts
+++ b/src/git-auth-helper.ts
@@ -364,11 +364,13 @@ class GitAuthHelper {
       }
     }
 
-    const pattern = regexpHelper.escape(configKey)
-    await this.git.submoduleForeach(
-      // wrap the pipeline in quotes to make sure it's handled properly by submoduleForeach, rather than just the first part of the pipeline
-      `sh -c "git config --local --name-only --get-regexp '${pattern}' && git config --local --unset-all '${configKey}' || :"`,
-      true
-    )
+    if (this.settings.submodules) {
+      const pattern = regexpHelper.escape(configKey)
+      await this.git.submoduleForeach(
+        // wrap the pipeline in quotes to make sure it's handled properly by submoduleForeach, rather than just the first part of the pipeline
+        `sh -c "git config --local --name-only --get-regexp '${pattern}' && git config --local --unset-all '${configKey}' || :"`,
+        true
+      )
+    }
   }
 }