diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 78be3ae9e9d3c7ff7f5a2baeb3797e057c0715c5..e10c0eae577263704d877d9dee88c19fbae142b1 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -18,8 +18,27 @@ endif(NOT INSTALL_PYTHON_INTERFACE_ONLY)
 set(CUSTOM_HEADER_DIR ${PROJECT_NAME})
 set(PROJECT_COMPATIBILITY_VERSION AnyNewerVersion)
 
+# Check if the submodule cmake have been initialized
+set(JRL_CMAKE_MODULES "${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/cmake")
+if(NOT EXISTS "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/base.cmake")
+  if(${CMAKE_VERSION} VERSION_LESS "3.14.0")
+    message(
+      FATAL_ERROR
+        "\nPlease run the following command first:\ngit submodule update --init\n"
+    )
+  else()
+    message(STATUS "JRL cmakemodules not found. Let's fetch it.")
+    include(FetchContent)
+    FetchContent_Declare(
+      "jrl-cmakemodules"
+      GIT_REPOSITORY "https://github.com/jrl-umi3218/jrl-cmakemodules.git")
+    FetchContent_MakeAvailable("jrl-cmakemodules")
+    FetchContent_GetProperties("jrl-cmakemodules" SOURCE_DIR JRL_CMAKE_MODULES)
+  endif()
+endif()
+
 # JRL-cmakemodule setup
-include(cmake/base.cmake)
+include("${JRL_CMAKE_MODULES}/base.cmake")
 
 # Print initial message
 message(STATUS "${PROJECT_DESCRIPTION}, version ${PROJECT_VERSION}")