diff --git a/builtin/submodule--helper.c b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
index 9af6626e32..b272a78801 100644
--- a/builtin/submodule--helper.c
+++ b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
@@ -2128,6 +2128,28 @@ static int check_name(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 
 static int module_config(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 {
+	enum {
+		CHECK_WRITEABLE = 1
+	} command = 0;
+
+	struct option module_config_options[] = {
+		OPT_CMDMODE(0, "check-writeable", &command,
+			    N_("check if it is safe to write to the .gitmodules file"),
+			    CHECK_WRITEABLE),
+		OPT_END()
+	};
+	const char *const git_submodule_helper_usage[] = {
+		N_("git submodule--helper config name [value]"),
+		N_("git submodule--helper config --check-writeable"),
+		NULL
+	};
+
+	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, module_config_options,
+			     git_submodule_helper_usage, PARSE_OPT_KEEP_ARGV0);
+
+	if (argc == 1 && command == CHECK_WRITEABLE)
+		return is_writing_gitmodules_ok() ? 0 : -1;
+
 	/* Equivalent to ACTION_GET in builtin/config.c */
 	if (argc == 2)
 		return print_config_from_gitmodules(the_repository, argv[1]);
@@ -2136,7 +2158,7 @@ static int module_config(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	if (argc == 3)
 		return config_set_in_gitmodules_file_gently(argv[1], argv[2]);
 
-	die("submodule--helper config takes 1 or 2 arguments: name [value]");
+	usage_with_options(git_submodule_helper_usage, module_config_options);
 }
 
 #define SUPPORT_SUPER_PREFIX (1<<0)
diff --git a/cache.h b/cache.h
index 59c8a93046..4c1f827c54 100644
--- a/cache.h
+++ b/cache.h
@@ -486,6 +486,8 @@ static inline enum object_type object_type(unsigned int mode)
 #define INFOATTRIBUTES_FILE "info/attributes"
 #define ATTRIBUTE_MACRO_PREFIX "[attr]"
 #define GITMODULES_FILE ".gitmodules"
+#define GITMODULES_INDEX ":.gitmodules"
+#define GITMODULES_HEAD "HEAD:.gitmodules"
 #define GIT_NOTES_REF_ENVIRONMENT "GIT_NOTES_REF"
 #define GIT_NOTES_DEFAULT_REF "refs/notes/commits"
 #define GIT_NOTES_DISPLAY_REF_ENVIRONMENT "GIT_NOTES_DISPLAY_REF"
diff --git a/submodule.c b/submodule.c
index 24a49eae61..9516685478 100644
--- a/submodule.c
+++ b/submodule.c
@@ -51,6 +51,24 @@ int is_gitmodules_unmerged(const struct index_state *istate)
 	return 0;
 }
 
+/*
+ * Check if the .gitmodules file is safe to write.
+ *
+ * Writing to the .gitmodules file requires that the file exists in the
+ * working tree or, if it doesn't, that a brand new .gitmodules file is going
+ * to be created (i.e. it's neither in the index nor in the current branch).
+ *
+ * It is not safe to write to .gitmodules if it's not in the working tree but
+ * it is in the index or in the current branch, because writing new values
+ * (and staging them) would blindly overwrite ALL the old content.
+ */
+int is_writing_gitmodules_ok(void)
+{
+	struct object_id oid;
+	return file_exists(GITMODULES_FILE) ||
+		(get_oid(GITMODULES_INDEX, &oid) < 0 && get_oid(GITMODULES_HEAD, &oid) < 0);
+}
+
 /*
  * Check if the .gitmodules file has unstaged modifications.  This must be
  * checked before allowing modifications to the .gitmodules file with the
diff --git a/submodule.h b/submodule.h
index 4826601ff2..ea6e115f16 100644
--- a/submodule.h
+++ b/submodule.h
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ struct submodule_update_strategy {
 #define SUBMODULE_UPDATE_STRATEGY_INIT {SM_UPDATE_UNSPECIFIED, NULL}
 
 int is_gitmodules_unmerged(const struct index_state *istate);
+int is_writing_gitmodules_ok(void);
 int is_staging_gitmodules_ok(struct index_state *istate);
 int update_path_in_gitmodules(const char *oldpath, const char *newpath);
 int remove_path_from_gitmodules(const char *path);
diff --git a/t/t7411-submodule-config.sh b/t/t7411-submodule-config.sh
index 791245f18d..45953f9300 100755
--- a/t/t7411-submodule-config.sh
+++ b/t/t7411-submodule-config.sh
@@ -161,4 +161,35 @@ test_expect_success 'overwriting unstaged submodules config with "submodule--hel
 	)
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'writeable .gitmodules when it is in the working tree' '
+	git -C super submodule--helper config --check-writeable
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'writeable .gitmodules when it is nowhere in the repository' '
+	ORIG=$(git -C super rev-parse HEAD) &&
+	test_when_finished "git -C super reset --hard $ORIG" &&
+	(cd super &&
+		git rm .gitmodules &&
+		git commit -m "remove .gitmodules from the current branch" &&
+		git submodule--helper config --check-writeable
+	)
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'non-writeable .gitmodules when it is in the index but not in the working tree' '
+	test_when_finished "git -C super checkout .gitmodules" &&
+	(cd super &&
+		rm -f .gitmodules &&
+		test_must_fail git submodule--helper config --check-writeable
+	)
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'non-writeable .gitmodules when it is in the current branch but not in the index' '
+	ORIG=$(git -C super rev-parse HEAD) &&
+	test_when_finished "git -C super reset --hard $ORIG" &&
+	(cd super &&
+		git rm .gitmodules &&
+		test_must_fail git submodule--helper config --check-writeable
+	)
+'
+
 test_done
