diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
index 421374b..1459219 100644
--- a/.dockerignore
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 .git
-.gitmodules
 .gitignore
 .DS_Store
 .idea
diff --git a/Dockerfile.test b/Dockerfile.test
index a36f5bb..f1ae865 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.test
+++ b/Dockerfile.test
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ RUN apt-get update \
         build-essential \
         ca-certificates \
         curl \
+        git \
         gzip \
         hashcat \
         ocl-icd-libopencl1 \
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 099b72c..3fa3ea2 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@ hashcat-utils: submodules
 	$(MAKE) -C hashcat-utils
 
 submodules:
-	@# Initialize submodules when present
-	@if [ -f .gitmodules ] && command -v git >/dev/null 2>&1; then \
+	@# Initialize submodules only when inside a git repo (not in Docker/CI copies)
+	@if [ -d .git ] && [ -f .gitmodules ] && command -v git >/dev/null 2>&1; then \
 		git submodule update --init --recursive; \
 	fi; \
 	$(MAKE) submodules-pre; \