diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index d41bc952ce7519d91f276cd26fd0399a6368b186..a97abeaed89f6e0989209bcb2c111383d9de3044 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 image: registry.gitlab.com/othermo/fedora-build:latest
 
+variables:
+  GIT_SUBMODULE_STRATEGY: 'recursive'
+
 before_script:
   - git config --global user.email "info@othermo.de"
   - git config --global user.name "Othermo CI"