diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 2b5e8cf79..d20088dad 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@ variables:
   # jobs can overwrite this variable to only fetch submodules they required
   # set to "none" if don't need to fetch submodules
   SUBMODULES_TO_FETCH: "all"
+  # tell build system do not check submodule update as we download archive instead of clone
+  IDF_SKIP_CHECK_SUBMODULES: 1
 
   UNIT_TEST_BUILD_SYSTEM: cmake
   EXAMPLE_TEST_BUILD_SYSTEM: cmake
diff --git a/make/project.mk b/make/project.mk
index 796f2e39c..af30fe609 100644
--- a/make/project.mk
+++ b/make/project.mk
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ EXTRA_COMPONENT_DIRS ?=
 COMPONENT_DIRS := $(PROJECT_PATH)/components $(EXTRA_COMPONENT_DIRS) $(IDF_PATH)/components $(PROJECT_PATH)/main
 endif
 # Make sure that every directory in the list is an absolute path without trailing slash.
-# This is necessary to split COMPONENT_DIRS into SINGLE_COMPONENT_DIRS and MULTI_COMPONENT_DIRS below. 
+# This is necessary to split COMPONENT_DIRS into SINGLE_COMPONENT_DIRS and MULTI_COMPONENT_DIRS below.
 COMPONENT_DIRS := $(foreach cd,$(COMPONENT_DIRS),$(abspath $(cd)))
 export COMPONENT_DIRS
 
@@ -153,11 +153,11 @@ $(warning SRCDIRS variable is deprecated. These paths can be added to EXTRA_COMP
 COMPONENT_DIRS += $(abspath $(SRCDIRS))
 endif
 
-# List of component directories, i.e. directories which contain a component.mk file 
+# List of component directories, i.e. directories which contain a component.mk file
 SINGLE_COMPONENT_DIRS := $(abspath $(dir $(dir $(foreach cd,$(COMPONENT_DIRS),\
                              $(wildcard $(cd)/component.mk)))))
 
-# List of components directories, i.e. directories which may contain components 
+# List of components directories, i.e. directories which may contain components
 MULTI_COMPONENT_DIRS := $(filter-out $(SINGLE_COMPONENT_DIRS),$(COMPONENT_DIRS))
 
 # The project Makefile can define a list of components, but if it does not do this
@@ -635,6 +635,11 @@ clean: app-clean bootloader-clean config-clean ldgen-clean
 #
 # This only works for components inside IDF_PATH
 check-submodules:
+# for internal use:
+# skip submodule check if running on Gitlab CI and job is configured as not clone submodules
+ifeq ($(IDF_SKIP_CHECK_SUBMODULES),1)
+	@echo "skip submodule check on internal CI"
+else
 # Check if .gitmodules exists, otherwise skip submodule check, assuming flattened structure
 ifneq ("$(wildcard ${IDF_PATH}/.gitmodules)","")
 
@@ -662,7 +667,7 @@ endef
 # so the argument is suitable for use with 'git submodule' commands
 $(foreach submodule,$(subst $(IDF_PATH)/,,$(filter $(IDF_PATH)/%,$(COMPONENT_SUBMODULES))),$(eval $(call GenerateSubmoduleCheckTarget,$(submodule))))
 endif # End check for .gitmodules existence
-
+endif
 
 # PHONY target to list components in the build and their paths
 list-components:
diff --git a/tools/cmake/git_submodules.cmake b/tools/cmake/git_submodules.cmake
index 09098b24a..e36ee919f 100644
--- a/tools/cmake/git_submodules.cmake
+++ b/tools/cmake/git_submodules.cmake
@@ -11,6 +11,14 @@ if(NOT GIT_FOUND)
 else()
 
     function(git_submodule_check root_path)
+        # for internal use:
+        # skip submodule check if running on Gitlab CI and job is configured as not clone submodules
+        if($ENV{IDF_SKIP_CHECK_SUBMODULES})
+            if($ENV{IDF_SKIP_CHECK_SUBMODULES} EQUAL 1)
+                message("skip submodule check on internal CI")
+                return()
+            endif()
+        endif()
 
         execute_process(
             COMMAND ${GIT_EXECUTABLE} submodule status