diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
index e69de29bb..6554ec8c1 100644
--- a/.gitmodules
+++ b/.gitmodules
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+[submodule "jni/deltachat-core-rust"]
+	path = jni/deltachat-core-rust
+	url = https://github.com/deltachat/deltachat-core-rust