diff --git a/fetch-submodules.sh b/fetch-submodules.sh
index 91825d3025..7515dbbf32 100755
--- a/fetch-submodules.sh
+++ b/fetch-submodules.sh
@@ -76,4 +76,4 @@ fetch_git "https://github.com/libretro/retroarch-assets.git" "media/assets"
 fetch_git "https://github.com/libretro/retroarch-joypad-autoconfig.git" "media/autoconfig"
 fetch_git "https://github.com/libretro/libretro-database.git" "media/libretrodb"
 
-git submodule update --init
+git submodule update --init --recursive