diff --git a/MANIFEST.in b/MANIFEST.in
index bdb8fc7e4f8467edac0b86e227a054becfa063be..668f4198d4782542ee4361af4aac85738d79a008 100644
--- a/MANIFEST.in
+++ b/MANIFEST.in
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 include COPYING
 include README.rst
+include aksetup_helper.py
 include codegen_helpers.py
 include vec_wrappers.py
 include wrappers.pyf.mako
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index af96f4c1be416cc326c0eca3ea06877b7fa3b819..604f2bcbadd6e17f8ff8d08b9ee1d26a05532a00 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -40,6 +40,9 @@ DASH_SEPARATOR = 75 * "-"
 
 
 def main():
+    from aksetup_helper import check_git_submodules
+    check_git_submodules()
+
     import os
     build_mode = os.environ.get("PYFMMLIB_BUILD_MODE", "openmp-ofast")