diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/fetchgit/nix-prefetch-git b/pkgs/build-support/fetchgit/nix-prefetch-git
index feb6c9e30535..8f8104863e67 100755
--- a/pkgs/build-support/fetchgit/nix-prefetch-git
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/fetchgit/nix-prefetch-git
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ checkout_ref(){
 
 # Update submodules
 init_submodules(){
-    clean_git submodule update --init --recursive -j ${NIX_BUILD_CORES:-1}
+    clean_git submodule update --init --recursive -j ${NIX_BUILD_CORES:-1} --progress
 }
 
 clone(){