diff --git a/components/bt/component.mk b/components/bt/component.mk
index 8290f9f4a4..a9233cc74a 100644
--- a/components/bt/component.mk
+++ b/components/bt/component.mk
@@ -16,8 +16,10 @@ COMPONENT_ADD_LDFLAGS := -lbt -L$(abspath lib) \
                            $(addprefix -l,$(LIBS)) \
                           $(LINKER_SCRIPTS)
 
+include $(IDF_PATH)/make/component_common.mk
 
 ALL_LIB_FILES := $(patsubst %,$(COMPONENT_PATH)/lib/lib%.a,$(LIBS))
 $(COMPONENT_LIBRARY): $(ALL_LIB_FILES)
 
-include $(IDF_PATH)/make/component_common.mk
+# automatically trigger a git submodule update if BT library is missing
+$(eval $(call SubmoduleRequiredForFiles,$(ALL_LIB_FILES)))