diff --git a/src/shell/lisa_shell b/src/shell/lisa_shell
index 08e0ab7e98f436291a9f3ffb2f0838a86eb5a58e..614199a3752c9bddf321eb12c5d426f1ddd18db1 100755
--- a/src/shell/lisa_shell
+++ b/src/shell/lisa_shell
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ if [ $ret -ne 0 ]; then
     return $ret
 fi
 
-git diff-index --quiet HEAD
+git diff-index --quiet --ignore-submodules HEAD
 ret=$?
 if [ $ret -ne 0 ]; then
     echo "There are outstanding uncommitted changes."