diff --git a/builtin/submodule--helper.c b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
index d60f6cd9de..08ca18af49 100644
--- a/builtin/submodule--helper.c
+++ b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
@@ -1947,30 +1947,21 @@ static int prepare_to_clone_next_submodule(const struct cache_entry *ce,
 	const char *update_string;
 	enum submodule_update_type update_type;
 	char *key;
-	struct strbuf displaypath_sb = STRBUF_INIT;
+	struct update_data *ud = suc->update_data;
+	char *displaypath = do_get_submodule_displaypath(ce->name, ud->prefix,
+							 ud->recursive_prefix);
 	struct strbuf sb = STRBUF_INIT;
-	const char *displaypath = NULL;
 	int needs_cloning = 0;
 	int need_free_url = 0;
 
 	if (ce_stage(ce)) {
-		if (suc->update_data->recursive_prefix)
-			strbuf_addf(&sb, "%s/%s", suc->update_data->recursive_prefix, ce->name);
-		else
-			strbuf_addstr(&sb, ce->name);
-		strbuf_addf(out, _("Skipping unmerged submodule %s"), sb.buf);
+		strbuf_addf(out, _("Skipping unmerged submodule %s"), displaypath);
 		strbuf_addch(out, '\n');
 		goto cleanup;
 	}
 
 	sub = submodule_from_path(the_repository, null_oid(), ce->name);
 
-	if (suc->update_data->recursive_prefix)
-		displaypath = relative_path(suc->update_data->recursive_prefix,
-					    ce->name, &displaypath_sb);
-	else
-		displaypath = ce->name;
-
 	if (!sub) {
 		next_submodule_warn_missing(suc, out, displaypath);
 		goto cleanup;
@@ -2060,7 +2051,7 @@ static int prepare_to_clone_next_submodule(const struct cache_entry *ce,
 					      "--no-single-branch");
 
 cleanup:
-	strbuf_release(&displaypath_sb);
+	free(displaypath);
 	strbuf_release(&sb);
 	if (need_free_url)
 		free((void*)url);
diff --git a/t/t7406-submodule-update.sh b/t/t7406-submodule-update.sh
index 9a076e025f..6cc07460dd 100755
--- a/t/t7406-submodule-update.sh
+++ b/t/t7406-submodule-update.sh
@@ -1160,7 +1160,7 @@ test_expect_success 'submodule update should skip unmerged submodules' '
 	test_config -C top-cloned submodule.middle.update !true &&
 	git -C top-cloned submodule update --recursive 2>actual.err &&
 	cat >expect.err <<-\EOF &&
-	Skipping unmerged submodule middle//bottom
+	Skipping unmerged submodule middle/bottom
 	EOF
 	test_cmp expect.err actual.err
 '
@@ -1173,7 +1173,7 @@ test_expect_success 'submodule update --recursive skip submodules with strategy=
 	git -C top-cloned/middle config submodule.bottom.update none &&
 	git -C top-cloned submodule update --recursive 2>actual.err &&
 	cat >expect.err <<-\EOF &&
-	Skipping submodule '\''../middle/'\''
+	Skipping submodule '\''middle/bottom'\''
 	EOF
 	test_cmp expect.err actual.err
 '