diff --git a/gclient.py b/gclient.py
index 388799f82a..ec633dcc6d 100755
--- a/gclient.py
+++ b/gclient.py
@@ -2901,8 +2901,8 @@ def CMDgitmodules(parser, args):
     if cache_info:
         subprocess2.call(['git', 'update-index', '--add'] + cache_info)
     subprocess2.call(['git', 'add', '.gitmodules'])
-    print('.gitmodules and gitlinks updated. Please check git diff and '
-          'commit changes.')
+    print('.gitmodules and gitlinks updated. Please check `git diff --staged`'
+          'and commit those staged changes (`git commit` without -a)')
 
 
 @metrics.collector.collect_metrics('gclient flatten')
diff --git a/presubmit_canned_checks.py b/presubmit_canned_checks.py
index 1222db3cdc..b2af4a2b44 100644
--- a/presubmit_canned_checks.py
+++ b/presubmit_canned_checks.py
@@ -1963,6 +1963,8 @@ def CheckForCommitObjects(input_api, output_api):
                 'To reset all git submodule git entries to match DEPS, run\n'
                 'the following command in the root of this repository:\n'
                 '    gclient gitmodules'
+                'This will update AND stage the entries to the correct revisions.\n'
+                'Then commit these staged changes only (`git commit` without -a).\n'
                 '\n\n'
                 'The following entries diverged: ' + deps_msg)
         ]