diff --git a/lib/util/git/index.ts b/lib/util/git/index.ts
index 466d151cf4cc14788d6dea4262508dfc392245fc..6265d887893e7a278e36a2167ef984995344e496 100644
--- a/lib/util/git/index.ts
+++ b/lib/util/git/index.ts
@@ -350,6 +350,7 @@ export async function cloneSubmodules(shouldClone: boolean): Promise<void> {
   }
   submodulesInitizialized = true;
   await syncGit();
+  await git.addConfig('submodule.recurse', 'true');
   const submodules = await getSubmodules();
   for (const submodule of submodules) {
     try {