diff --git a/src/libfetchers/git.cc b/src/libfetchers/git.cc
index 8468d2afc..a3f4e42a3 100644
--- a/src/libfetchers/git.cc
+++ b/src/libfetchers/git.cc
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ struct GitInputScheme : InputScheme
         for (auto &[name, value] : url.query) {
             if (name == "rev" || name == "ref")
                 attrs.emplace(name, value);
-            else if (name == "shallow")
+            else if (name == "shallow" || name == "submodules")
                 attrs.emplace(name, Explicit<bool> { value == "1" });
             else
                 url2.query.emplace(name, value);