diff --git a/Makefile.in b/Makefile.in
index 4449aa00d58..85c4b10ad96 100644
--- a/Makefile.in
+++ b/Makefile.in
@@ -346,8 +346,7 @@ endif
 
 $(srcdir)/%/.git:
 	cd $(srcdir) && \
-	flock `git rev-parse --git-dir`/config git submodule init $(dir $@) && \
-	flock `git rev-parse --git-dir`/config git submodule update --progress $(dir $@)
+	flock `git rev-parse --git-dir`/config $(srcdir)/scripts/clone-submodule.sh $(dir $@) $(srcdir)
 
 stamps/install-host-gcc: $(GCC_SRCDIR) $(GCC_SRC_GIT)
 	if test -f $</contrib/download_prerequisites && test "@NEED_GCC_EXTERNAL_LIBRARIES@" = "true"; then cd $< && ./contrib/download_prerequisites; fi
diff --git a/scripts/clone-submodule.sh b/scripts/clone-submodule.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..f3fae9531ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/clone-submodule.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+REPO_PATH=$1
+SRCDIR=$2
+
+# Convert REPO_PATH to a relative path with respect to SRCDIR
+RELATIVE_PATH=$(realpath --relative-to="$SRCDIR" "$REPO_PATH")
+
+echo "Attempting shallow submodule update..."
+if git submodule update --init --depth 1 --progress $RELATIVE_PATH; then
+    echo "Shallow submodule update succeeded!"
+else
+    echo "Shallow submodule update failed. Cleaning up and retrying with full submodule update..."
+
+    # Deinitialize the submodule
+    git submodule deinit -f -- $RELATIVE_PATH
+    rm -rf .git/modules/$RELATIVE_PATH
+    git prune
+
+    # Perform a fresh submodule update
+    git submodule update --init --progress $RELATIVE_PATH
+    
+    # Check if the full update succeeded
+    if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
+        echo "Full submodule update succeeded after cleanup!"
+    else
+        echo "Full submodule update failed even after cleanup."
+        exit 1
+    fi
+fi