diff --git a/submodule-config.h b/submodule-config.h
index 65875b94ea..55a4c3e0bd 100644
--- a/submodule-config.h
+++ b/submodule-config.h
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ struct submodule {
 	const char *path;
 	const char *name;
 	const char *url;
-	int fetch_recurse;
+	enum submodule_recurse_mode fetch_recurse;
 	const char *ignore;
 	const char *branch;
 	struct submodule_update_strategy update_strategy;
diff --git a/submodule.h b/submodule.h
index 6bd2c99fd9..55cf6f01d0 100644
--- a/submodule.h
+++ b/submodule.h
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ struct repository;
 struct string_list;
 struct strbuf;
 
-enum {
+enum submodule_recurse_mode {
 	RECURSE_SUBMODULES_ONLY = -5,
 	RECURSE_SUBMODULES_CHECK = -4,
 	RECURSE_SUBMODULES_ERROR = -3,