diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 88861815f7ad3a082aac2af94fea2c05d4e53b4a..a4904d8ff9eb8c90574995208d70b3f3f282390d 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ variables:
   # recursive should work here, but gitlab-runner does not pull the latest remote
   # for submodules: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-runner/issues/3011
   GIT_SUBMODULE_STRATEGY: none
-  GIT_SUBMODULE_OPTS: "--remote --recursive --init --recommend-shallow"
+  GIT_SUBMODULE_OPTS: "--remote --recursive --init --recommend-shallow --force"
   MAVEN_CLI_OPTS: "--batch-mode"
   MAVEN_OPTS: "-Dmaven.repo.local=/cache/maven.repository"
   MAVEN_BUILD_OPTS: "-Dbuild.tooling=true -Dbuild.af3=true -Dbuild.emf=true"