diff --git a/bin/subrepo_checkout.py b/bin/subrepo_checkout.py
index a2cb19a542816ae7f84fab6ae78e1e8f7ffa3ae8..133cc82e0488a10df21ad664666545d84a657736 100755
--- a/bin/subrepo_checkout.py
+++ b/bin/subrepo_checkout.py
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ def find_branchfile(directory, branchfile):
     
 def repo_checkout(directory, branch, branchfile):
     print(f"Checking out {directory} to branch {branch}")
-    os.system(f"cd {directory}; git checkout {branch}")
+    os.system(f"cd {directory}; git checkout --recurse-submodules {branch}")
     find_branchfile(directory, branchfile)
     
 if __name__ == "__main__":