diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9773fb9d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitmodules
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+[submodule "contrib/build-common"]
+	path = contrib/build-common
+	url = https://git.taler.net/build-common.git
diff --git a/contrib/build-common b/contrib/build-common
new file mode 160000
index 00000000..25368019
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/build-common
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Subproject commit 2536801927781ea38fefc3de924934e1c6a74d88