diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 4da506a07119496c524411a7cf4e427a9da222db..0942036a23cc191886d62ec8074c729877a301b4 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 include:
 - local: "{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/.gitlab-ci.yml"
 
+variables:
+  GIT_SUBMODULE_STRATEGY: recursive
+
 trigger_prepare:
   stage: prepare
   trigger:
@@ -11,7 +14,7 @@ default:
   # Bootstrap Cookiecutter template to test provided ci pipeline template
   before_script:
     - python --version # For debugging
-    - cookiecutter --no-input --overwrite-if-exists --output-dir . .
+    - cookiecutter --no-input --overwrite-if-exists ./
     - cd my_awesome_app
     - git init