diff --git a/efi/clean-gnu-efi.sh b/efi/clean-gnu-efi.sh
index 84ed17a76..58def28c2 100755
--- a/efi/clean-gnu-efi.sh
+++ b/efi/clean-gnu-efi.sh
@@ -23,7 +23,9 @@ objdir=$(readlink -f "$2")
 
 (
 	cd ../..
-	git submodule update --init
+	if [ -d .git ]; then
+	    git submodule update --init
+	fi
 )
 
 if [ -d "$objdir/gnu-efi" ];then