diff --git a/builtin/submodule--helper.c b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
index 1aa87435c2..84a96d300d 100644
--- a/builtin/submodule--helper.c
+++ b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
@@ -72,16 +72,40 @@ static char *resolve_relative_url(const char *rel_url, const char *up_path, int
 
 static int get_default_remote_submodule(const char *module_path, char **default_remote)
 {
+	const struct submodule *sub;
 	struct repository subrepo;
+	const char *remote_name = NULL;
+	char *url = NULL;
+
+	sub = submodule_from_path(the_repository, null_oid(the_hash_algo), module_path);
+	if (sub && sub->url) {
+		url = xstrdup(sub->url);
+
+		/* Possibly a url relative to parent */
+		if (starts_with_dot_dot_slash(url) ||
+		    starts_with_dot_slash(url)) {
+			char *oldurl = url;
+
+			url = resolve_relative_url(oldurl, NULL, 1);
+			free(oldurl);
+		}
+	}
 
 	if (repo_submodule_init(&subrepo, the_repository, module_path,
 				null_oid(the_hash_algo)) < 0)
 		return die_message(_("could not get a repository handle for submodule '%s'"),
 				   module_path);
 
-	*default_remote = xstrdup(repo_default_remote(&subrepo));
+	/* Look up by URL first */
+	if (url)
+		remote_name = repo_remote_from_url(&subrepo, url);
+	if (!remote_name)
+		remote_name = repo_default_remote(&subrepo);
+
+	*default_remote = xstrdup(remote_name);
 
 	repo_clear(&subrepo);
+	free(url);
 
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/remote.c b/remote.c
index e35cf7ec61..60b4aec3de 100644
--- a/remote.c
+++ b/remote.c
@@ -1801,6 +1801,21 @@ const char *repo_default_remote(struct repository *repo)
 	return remotes_remote_for_branch(repo->remote_state, branch, NULL);
 }
 
+const char *repo_remote_from_url(struct repository *repo, const char *url)
+{
+	read_config(repo, 0);
+
+	for (int i = 0; i < repo->remote_state->remotes_nr; i++) {
+		struct remote *remote = repo->remote_state->remotes[i];
+		if (!remote)
+			continue;
+
+		if (remote_has_url(remote, url))
+			return remote->name;
+	}
+	return NULL;
+}
+
 int branch_has_merge_config(struct branch *branch)
 {
 	return branch && branch->set_merge;
diff --git a/remote.h b/remote.h
index 8dc5cfa49e..0ca399e183 100644
--- a/remote.h
+++ b/remote.h
@@ -340,6 +340,7 @@ const char *pushremote_for_branch(struct branch *branch, int *explicit);
 char *remote_ref_for_branch(struct branch *branch, int for_push);
 
 const char *repo_default_remote(struct repository *repo);
+const char *repo_remote_from_url(struct repository *repo, const char *url);
 
 /* returns true if the given branch has merge configuration given. */
 int branch_has_merge_config(struct branch *branch);
diff --git a/t/t7406-submodule-update.sh b/t/t7406-submodule-update.sh
index 748b529745..c09047b5f4 100755
--- a/t/t7406-submodule-update.sh
+++ b/t/t7406-submodule-update.sh
@@ -1134,6 +1134,38 @@ test_expect_success 'setup clean recursive superproject' '
 	git clone --recurse-submodules top top-clean
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'submodule update with multiple remotes' '
+	test_when_finished "rm -fr top-cloned" &&
+	cp -r top-clean top-cloned &&
+
+	# Create a commit in each repo, starting with bottom
+	test_commit -C bottom multiple_remote_commit &&
+	# Create middle commit
+	git -C middle/bottom fetch &&
+	git -C middle/bottom checkout -f FETCH_HEAD &&
+	git -C middle add bottom &&
+	git -C middle commit -m "multiple_remote_commit" &&
+	# Create top commit
+	git -C top/middle fetch &&
+	git -C top/middle checkout -f FETCH_HEAD &&
+	git -C top add middle &&
+	git -C top commit -m "multiple_remote_commit" &&
+
+	# rename the submodule remote
+	git -C top-cloned/middle remote rename origin upstream &&
+
+	# Add another remote
+	git -C top-cloned/middle remote add other bogus &&
+
+	# Make the update of "middle" a no-op, otherwise we error out
+	# because of its unmerged state
+	test_config -C top-cloned submodule.middle.update !true &&
+	git -C top-cloned submodule update --recursive 2>actual.err &&
+	cat >expect.err <<-\EOF &&
+	EOF
+	test_cmp expect.err actual.err
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'submodule update with renamed remote' '
 	test_when_finished "rm -fr top-cloned" &&
 	cp -r top-clean top-cloned &&