diff --git a/git-submodule.sh b/git-submodule.sh
index ab6b1107b6090494f192f361471ed5748ffa7dc1..c287464c2b6a3d93fad6759fe818d6e8e2c2c252 100755
--- a/git-submodule.sh
+++ b/git-submodule.sh
@@ -926,7 +926,6 @@ cmd_summary() {
 cmd_status()
 {
 	# parse $args after "submodule ... status".
-	orig_flags=
 	while test $# -ne 0
 	do
 		case "$1" in
@@ -950,7 +949,6 @@ cmd_status()
 			break
 			;;
 		esac
-		orig_flags="$orig_flags $(git rev-parse --sq-quote "$1")"
 		shift
 	done
 
@@ -990,7 +988,7 @@ cmd_status()
 				prefix="$displaypath/"
 				clear_local_git_env
 				cd "$sm_path" &&
-				eval cmd_status "$orig_args"
+				eval cmd_status
 			) ||
 			die "$(eval_gettext "Failed to recurse into submodule path '\$sm_path'")"
 		fi