diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 7bdb9b4973134dc5ca1284075880ebcfd690a1c5..92bc01b593479f6a38e90b1c1a6a65d1781e10e2 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #
 # Software License Agreement (BSD License)
 #
-#  Copyright (c) 2014 CNRS-LAAS
+#  Copyright (c) 2014-2019 CNRS-LAAS, INRIA
 #  Author: Florent Lamiraux, Joseph Mirabel
 #  All rights reserved.
 #
@@ -45,6 +45,11 @@ SET(PROJECT_USE_CMAKE_EXPORT TRUE)
 CMAKE_POLICY(SET CMP0022 NEW)
 SET(PROJECT_USE_KEYWORD_LINK_LIBRARIES TRUE)
 
+# Check if the submodule cmake have been initialized
+IF(NOT EXISTS "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/base.cmake")
+  MESSAGE(FATAL_ERROR "\nPlease run the following command first:\ngit submodule update --init\n")
+ENDIF()
+
 include(cmake/eigen.cmake)
 include(cmake/boost.cmake)
 include(cmake/python.cmake)