diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
index 32bdb3b6e5..90d1be0a3d 100644
--- a/.gitmodules
+++ b/.gitmodules
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 [submodule "tests"]
 	path = tests/testdata
 	url = https://github.com/ethereum/tests
+	shallow = true