diff --git a/RELEASE-NOTES.adoc b/RELEASE-NOTES.adoc
index d68677866..38b65693e 100644
--- a/RELEASE-NOTES.adoc
+++ b/RELEASE-NOTES.adoc
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 == 0.9.8 - Bugfix and enhancements release for public review. API may change.
 
+* #152 Added support for registering subcommands declaratively with the `@Command(subcommands={...})` annotation. Thanks to https://github.com/nagkumar[nagkumar].
 * #146 Show underlying error when type conversion fails
 * #147 Toggle boolean flags instead of setting to `true`
 * #148 Long string in default value no longer causes infinite loop when printing usage. Thanks to https://github.com/smartboyathome[smartboyathome].
diff --git a/src/main/java/picocli/CommandLine.java b/src/main/java/picocli/CommandLine.java
index 3bc8b1a8f..79f75dd64 100644
--- a/src/main/java/picocli/CommandLine.java
+++ b/src/main/java/picocli/CommandLine.java
@@ -1247,25 +1247,16 @@ private class Interpreter {
                                     " is missing the mandatory @Command annotation with a 'name' attribute");
                         }
                         try {
-                            Constructor<?> constructor = sub.getConstructor();
-                            for (Constructor<?> c : sub.getDeclaredConstructors()) {
-                                if (c.getParameterTypes().length == 0) {
-                                    constructor = c;
-                                    break;
-                                }
-                                System.out.println(Arrays.toString(c.getParameterTypes()));
-                            }
-                            if (constructor == null) {
-                                throw new IllegalArgumentException("Could not instantiate subcommand class "
-                                        + sub.getName() + ": missing no-arg constructor.");
-                            }
+                            Constructor<?> constructor = sub.getDeclaredConstructor();
                             constructor.setAccessible(true);
-                            addSubcommand(subCommand.name(), sub.newInstance());
+                            commands.put(subCommand.name(), toCommandLine(constructor.newInstance()));
                         }
                         catch (IllegalArgumentException ex) { throw ex; }
+                        catch (NoSuchMethodException ex) { throw new IllegalArgumentException("Cannot instantiate subcommand " +
+                                sub.getName() + ": the class has no constructor", ex); }
                         catch (Exception ex) {
                             throw new IllegalStateException("Could not instantiate and add subcommand " +
-                                    sub.getName() + " with name '" + subCommand.name() + "'", ex);
+                                    sub.getName() + ": " + ex, ex);
                         }
                     }
                 }
diff --git a/src/test/java/picocli/CommandLineTest.java b/src/test/java/picocli/CommandLineTest.java
index 9ed91ccf8..4d3be6324 100644
--- a/src/test/java/picocli/CommandLineTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/picocli/CommandLineTest.java
@@ -2802,22 +2802,26 @@ class App {
 
         assertEquals(expectedOutput, content);
     }
+    @Command(name = "subsub1")
+    static class SubSub1_testDeclarativelyAddSubcommands {private SubSub1_testDeclarativelyAddSubcommands(){}}
+
+    @Command(name = "sub1", subcommands = {SubSub1_testDeclarativelyAddSubcommands.class})
+    static class Sub1_testDeclarativelyAddSubcommands {public Sub1_testDeclarativelyAddSubcommands(){}}
+
+    @Command(subcommands = {Sub1_testDeclarativelyAddSubcommands.class})
+    static class MainCommand_testDeclarativelyAddSubcommands {}
     @Test
     public void testDeclarativelyAddSubcommands() {
-        @Command(name = "subsub1")
-        class SubSub1 {private SubSub1(){}}
-
-        @Command(name = "sub1", subcommands = {SubSub1.class})
-        class Sub1 {public Sub1(){}}
+        CommandLine main = new CommandLine(new MainCommand_testDeclarativelyAddSubcommands());
+        assertEquals(1, main.getSubcommands().size());
 
-        @Command(subcommands = {Sub1.class})
-        class MainCommand {}
+        CommandLine sub1 = main.getSubcommands().get("sub1");
+        assertEquals(Sub1_testDeclarativelyAddSubcommands.class, sub1.getCommand().getClass());
 
-        CommandLine main = new CommandLine(new MainCommand());
-        assertEquals(1, main.getSubcommands().size());
-        assertEquals(Sub1.class, main.getSubcommands().get("sub1").getCommand().getClass());
+        assertEquals(1, sub1.getSubcommands().size());
+        CommandLine subsub1 = sub1.getSubcommands().get("subsub1");
+        assertEquals(SubSub1_testDeclarativelyAddSubcommands.class, subsub1.getCommand().getClass());
     }
-    @Ignore
     @Test
     public void testDeclarativelyAddSubcommandsFailsWithoutNoArgConstructor() {
         @Command(name = "sub1") class ABC {}
@@ -2825,7 +2829,7 @@ public void testDeclarativelyAddSubcommandsFailsWithoutNoArgConstructor() {
         try {
             new CommandLine(new MainCommand());
         } catch (IllegalArgumentException ex) {
-            assertEquals("Could not instantiate subcommand class picocli.CommandLineTest$1ABC: missing no-arg constructor.", ex.getMessage());
+            assertEquals("Cannot instantiate subcommand picocli.CommandLineTest$1ABC: the class has no constructor", ex.getMessage());
         }
     }
     @Test