diff --git a/lifecycleScripts/submodules/getStatus.js b/lifecycleScripts/submodules/getStatus.js
index 53c85c1f3..2fcc42d37 100644
--- a/lifecycleScripts/submodules/getStatus.js
+++ b/lifecycleScripts/submodules/getStatus.js
@@ -40,5 +40,11 @@ module.exports = function getStatus() {
         .split("\n")
         .map(getStatusPromiseFromLine)
       );
+    })
+    .catch(function() {
+      // In the case that NodeGit is required from another project via npm we
+      // won't be able to run submodule commands but that's ok since the
+      // correct version of libgit2 is published with nodegit.
+      return Promise.resolve([]);
     });
 };