diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index f3b8b46..e36dc7d 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -8,6 +8,13 @@
 
 script: make test-static
 
+# The default of --recursive chokes on the libgit2 tests
+git:
+  submodules: false
+
+before_install:
+  - git submodule update --init
+
 matrix:
   allow_failures:
     - go: tip