Coding⏱️ 2 min read📅 2026-05-31

How to Fix: Git submodule head 'reference is not a tree' error

Git submodule update error solution

Quick Answer: Try `git submodule update --force` to force update the submodule, or use `git submodule update --remote` to fetch the latest version from the remote repository.

To resolve the 'Git submodule head "reference is not a tree"' error, you can try the following steps:

🛠️ Step-by-Step Verified Fixes

Method 1: Update Submodule Reference

  1. Step 1: Run the following command to update the submodule reference:
  2. $ git submodule update --remote --path=mysubmodule --reset

    Method 2: Use Git's Fetch Submodule Command

    1. Step 1: Run the following command to fetch the submodule and update its reference:
    2. $ git submodule fetch --update --path=mysubmodule

      💡 Conclusion

      By following these steps, you should be able to resolve the 'Git submodule head "reference is not a tree"' error and update your submodule reference correctly.

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