diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/download_strategy.rb b/Library/Homebrew/download_strategy.rb
index afd8840c52..70338d37e9 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/download_strategy.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/download_strategy.rb
@@ -646,7 +646,7 @@ class GitDownloadStrategy < VCSDownloadStrategy
   end
 
   def update_submodules
-    quiet_safe_system "git", "submodule", "sync", "--recursive"
+    quiet_safe_system "git", "submodule", "foreach", "--recursive", "git submodule sync"
     quiet_safe_system "git", "submodule", "update", "--init", "--recursive"
   end