diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jenkinsci/plugins/gitclient/CliGitAPIImpl.java b/src/main/java/org/jenkinsci/plugins/gitclient/CliGitAPIImpl.java
index 8c8d2b08f9..70f69a4622 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jenkinsci/plugins/gitclient/CliGitAPIImpl.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jenkinsci/plugins/gitclient/CliGitAPIImpl.java
@@ -1052,9 +1052,11 @@ public SubmoduleUpdateCommand submoduleUpdate() {
             boolean recursive                      = false;
             boolean remoteTracking                 = false;
             boolean parentCredentials              = false;
+            boolean shallow                        = false;
             String  ref                            = null;
             Map<String, String> submodBranch   = new HashMap<>();
             public Integer timeout;
+            public Integer depth = 1;
 
             public SubmoduleUpdateCommand recursive(boolean recursive) {
                 this.recursive = recursive;
@@ -1086,6 +1088,16 @@ public SubmoduleUpdateCommand timeout(Integer timeout) {
                 return this;
             }
 
+            public SubmoduleUpdateCommand shallow(boolean shallow) {
+                this.shallow = shallow;
+                return this;
+            }
+
+            public SubmoduleUpdateCommand depth(Integer depth) {
+                this.depth = depth;
+                return this;
+            }
+
             /**
              * @throws GitException if executing the Git command fails
              * @throws InterruptedException if called methods throw same exception
@@ -1116,6 +1128,12 @@ else if (!referencePath.isDirectory())
                     else
                         args.add("--reference", ref);
                 }
+                if (shallow) {
+                    if (depth == null){
+                        depth = 1;
+                    }
+                    args.add("--depth=" + depth);
+                }
 
 
                 // We need to call submodule update for each configured
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jenkinsci/plugins/gitclient/JGitAPIImpl.java b/src/main/java/org/jenkinsci/plugins/gitclient/JGitAPIImpl.java
index c17c2fad22..8b16f84adb 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jenkinsci/plugins/gitclient/JGitAPIImpl.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jenkinsci/plugins/gitclient/JGitAPIImpl.java
@@ -2114,6 +2114,7 @@ public org.jenkinsci.plugins.gitclient.SubmoduleUpdateCommand submoduleUpdate()
         return new org.jenkinsci.plugins.gitclient.SubmoduleUpdateCommand() {
             boolean recursive      = false;
             boolean remoteTracking = false;
+            boolean shallow        = false;
             String  ref            = null;
 
             public org.jenkinsci.plugins.gitclient.SubmoduleUpdateCommand recursive(boolean recursive) {
@@ -2141,6 +2142,15 @@ public org.jenkinsci.plugins.gitclient.SubmoduleUpdateCommand timeout(Integer ti
                 return this;
             }
 
+            public org.jenkinsci.plugins.gitclient.SubmoduleUpdateCommand shallow(boolean shallow) {
+                this.shallow = shallow;
+                return this;
+            }
+
+            public org.jenkinsci.plugins.gitclient.SubmoduleUpdateCommand depth(Integer depth) {
+                return this;
+            }
+
             public org.jenkinsci.plugins.gitclient.SubmoduleUpdateCommand useBranch(String submodule, String branchname) {
                 return this;
             }
@@ -2154,6 +2164,10 @@ public void execute() throws GitException, InterruptedException {
                     listener.getLogger().println("[ERROR] JGit doesn't support submodule update --reference yet.");
                     throw new UnsupportedOperationException("not implemented yet");
                 }
+                if (shallow) {
+                    listener.getLogger().println("[ERROR] JGit doesn't support shallow submodules yet.");
+                    throw new UnsupportedOperationException("not implemented yet");
+                }
 
                 try (Repository repo = getRepository()) {
                     SubmoduleUpdateCommand update = git(repo).submoduleUpdate();
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jenkinsci/plugins/gitclient/SubmoduleUpdateCommand.java b/src/main/java/org/jenkinsci/plugins/gitclient/SubmoduleUpdateCommand.java
index ada0c10ad6..e4f55c2df3 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jenkinsci/plugins/gitclient/SubmoduleUpdateCommand.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jenkinsci/plugins/gitclient/SubmoduleUpdateCommand.java
@@ -58,4 +58,21 @@ public interface SubmoduleUpdateCommand extends GitCommand {
      * @return a {@link org.jenkinsci.plugins.gitclient.SubmoduleUpdateCommand} object.
      */
     SubmoduleUpdateCommand timeout(Integer timeout);
+
+    /**
+     * shallow.
+     *
+     * @param shallow a boolean.
+     * @return a {@link org.jenkinsci.plugins.gitclient.SubmoduleUpdateCommand} object.
+     */
+    SubmoduleUpdateCommand shallow(boolean shallow);
+
+    /**
+     * When shallow cloning, allow for a depth to be set in cases where you need more than the immediate last commit.
+     * Has no effect if shallow is set to false (default)
+     *
+     * @param depth number of revisions to be included in shallow clone
+     * @return a {@link org.jenkinsci.plugins.gitclient.SubmoduleUpdateCommand} object.
+     */
+    SubmoduleUpdateCommand depth(Integer depth);
 }
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/jenkinsci/plugins/gitclient/GitAPITestCase.java b/src/test/java/org/jenkinsci/plugins/gitclient/GitAPITestCase.java
index 0a23542c36..a238fa79c5 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/jenkinsci/plugins/gitclient/GitAPITestCase.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/jenkinsci/plugins/gitclient/GitAPITestCase.java
@@ -2579,6 +2579,21 @@ public void test_submodule_update() throws Exception {
         assertFixSubmoduleUrlsThrows();
     }
 
+    @NotImplementedInJGit
+    public void test_submodule_update_shallow() throws Exception {
+        w.init();
+        w.git.clone_().url(localMirror()).repositoryName("sub2_origin").execute();
+        w.git.checkout().branch("tests/getSubmodules").ref("sub2_origin/tests/getSubmodules").deleteBranchIfExist(true).execute();
+        // Remove modules/sshkeys because Git can't shallow clone an unadvertised object.
+        // You can see the same error by invoking a following command.
+        //   git clone --branch tests/getSubmodules --depth=1 --recurse-submodules --shallow-submodules https://github.com/jenkinsci/git-client-plugin.git
+        w.cmd("git rm modules/sshkeys");
+        w.git.submoduleUpdate().shallow(true).execute();
+
+        final String shallow = ".git" + File.separator + "modules" + File.separator + "modules" + File.separator + "firewall" + File.separator + "shallow";
+        assertTrue("Shallow file does not exist: " + shallow, w.exists(shallow));
+    }
+
     @NotImplementedInJGit
     public void test_trackingSubmoduleBranches() throws Exception {
         if (! ((CliGitAPIImpl)w.git).isAtLeastVersion(1,8,2,0)) {