diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 5295d031ac46af7f7d277725b4cbf5cd6c454b88..d513f3b84f5abf90fd740dad6d8fc8c3ec4aff01 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ branches:
     - master
 before_install:
   - sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get install qt4-dev-tools libvtk5-dev libvtk5-qt4-dev libnetcdf-dev libshp-dev libgeotiff-dev
-script: "mkdir build && cd build && cmake -DOGS_BUILD_GUI=ON .. && cmake .. && make && make test"
+script: "mkdir build && cd build && cmake -DOGS_BUILD_GUI=ON -DOGS_DONT_USE_OPTIONAL_SUBMODULES=ON .. && cmake .. && make && make test"
 notifications:
   email:
     - lars.bilke@ufz.de