diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 97e25c54dc..7620099f98 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@ GENMSG_PYTHONPATH = $(PX4_BASE)Tools/genmsg/src
 GENCPP_PYTHONPATH = $(PX4_BASE)Tools/gencpp/src
 
 .PHONY: generateuorbtopicheaders
-generateuorbtopicheaders:
+generateuorbtopicheaders: checksubmodules
 	@$(ECHO) "Generating uORB topic headers"
 	$(Q) (PYTHONPATH=$(GENMSG_PYTHONPATH):$(GENCPP_PYTHONPATH):$(PYTHONPATH) $(PYTHON) \
 		$(PX4_BASE)Tools/px_generate_uorb_topic_headers.py \