diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 81a841ec1..6a3465a46 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -15,7 +15,20 @@ jobs:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
-          submodules: recursive
+          submodules: false
+
+      - name: Checkout submodules (retry)
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          git submodule sync --recursive
+          for attempt in 1 2 3 4 5; do
+            if git -c protocol.version=2 submodule update --init --force --depth=1 --recursive; then
+              exit 0
+            fi
+            echo "Submodule update failed (attempt $attempt/5). Retrying…"
+            sleep $((attempt * 10))
+          done
+          exit 1
 
       - name: Setup Node.js
         if: matrix.runtime == 'node'
@@ -98,7 +111,20 @@ jobs:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
-          submodules: recursive
+          submodules: false
+
+      - name: Checkout submodules (retry)
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          git submodule sync --recursive
+          for attempt in 1 2 3 4 5; do
+            if git -c protocol.version=2 submodule update --init --force --depth=1 --recursive; then
+              exit 0
+            fi
+            echo "Submodule update failed (attempt $attempt/5). Retrying…"
+            sleep $((attempt * 10))
+          done
+          exit 1
 
       - name: Select Xcode 26.1
         run: |
@@ -267,7 +293,20 @@ jobs:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
-          submodules: recursive
+          submodules: false
+
+      - name: Checkout submodules (retry)
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          git submodule sync --recursive
+          for attempt in 1 2 3 4 5; do
+            if git -c protocol.version=2 submodule update --init --force --depth=1 --recursive; then
+              exit 0
+            fi
+            echo "Submodule update failed (attempt $attempt/5). Retrying…"
+            sleep $((attempt * 10))
+          done
+          exit 1
 
       - name: Setup Java
         uses: actions/setup-java@v4