diff --git a/PKGBUILD b/PKGBUILD
index 2f97e8779f0f..37589778917a 100644
--- a/PKGBUILD
+++ b/PKGBUILD
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ sha256sums=(
 _PREFIX="/usr"
 prepare() {
 	cd "${srcdir}/nextpnr"
+	git submodule update --init
 	[ ! -d "${srcdir}/nextpnr/build-ecp5" ] && mkdir build-ecp5
 }
 
diff --git a/PKGBUILD.in b/PKGBUILD.in
index c75b6bd5266f..c7f7a6420b28 100644
--- a/PKGBUILD.in
+++ b/PKGBUILD.in
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ sha256sums=(
 _PREFIX="/usr"
 prepare() {
 	cd "${srcdir}/nextpnr"
+	git submodule update --init
 	[ ! -d "${srcdir}/nextpnr/build-ecp5" ] && mkdir build-ecp5
 }