diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index f5e4ea88b91cb0af302f55d71af7dc5e3027926c..b97aa5a50c007007125811f08b8c20188c4928eb 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ There are two ways to get a source tree:
 
  2. *Check out the source code from git*
 
-        $ git clone --recursive git@gitlab.haskell.org:ghc/ghc.git
+        $ git clone --recurse-submodules git@gitlab.haskell.org:ghc/ghc.git
 
     Note: cloning GHC from Github requires a special setup. See [Getting a GHC
     repository from Github][7].