diff --git a/util/abuild/abuild b/util/abuild/abuild
index 903a569b3e..f90e2b3f83 100755
--- a/util/abuild/abuild
+++ b/util/abuild/abuild
@@ -769,7 +769,7 @@ if ! mkdir -p "$TARGET"; then
 	exit 1
 fi
 
-$MAKE -C"${ROOT}" .xcompile || exit 1
+$MAKE -C"${ROOT}" UPDATED_SUBMODULES=1 .xcompile || exit 1
 
 customizing=$(echo "$customizing" | cut -c3-)
 if [ "$customizing" = "" ]; then