diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
index f9b11dc978..865d6cd4e6 100644
--- a/.gitmodules
+++ b/.gitmodules
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 [submodule ".buildkite"]
 	path = .buildkite
 	url = https://github.com/bioconda/bioconda-buildkite.git
+	branch = master