diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/lib/SubmoduleConfig.java b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/lib/SubmoduleConfig.java
index 12f7b8234..12675061f 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/lib/SubmoduleConfig.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/lib/SubmoduleConfig.java
@@ -43,8 +43,6 @@
 
 package org.eclipse.jgit.lib;
 
-import java.util.Locale;
-
 import org.eclipse.jgit.util.StringUtils;
 
 /**
@@ -79,7 +77,7 @@ private FetchRecurseSubmodulesMode(String configValue) {
 
 		@Override
 		public String toConfigValue() {
-			return name().toLowerCase(Locale.ROOT).replace('_', '-');
+			return configValue;
 		}
 
 		@Override