diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index b06eccb75f..3e88ddc638 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -12,8 +12,6 @@ before_script:
   - base64 --decode --ignore-garbage ~/.ssh/id_rsa_base64 > ~/.ssh/id_rsa
   - chmod 600 ~/.ssh/id_rsa
   - echo -e "Host gitlab.espressif.cn\n\tStrictHostKeyChecking no\n" >> ~/.ssh/config
-  # CI may download a cached project. Need to re-sync submodule
-  - git submodule deinit -f .
   # if testing master branch, use github wifi libs.
   # if testing other branches, use gitlab wifi libs (as maybe changes aren't merged to master yet)
   - test "${CI_BUILD_REF_NAME}" = "master" || sed -i "s%https://github.com/espressif/esp32-wifi-lib%ssh://git@gitlab.espressif.cn:27227/idf/esp32-wifi-lib%" .gitmodules