diff --git a/builtin/submodule--helper.c b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
index ae6174ab05..f73963ad67 100644
--- a/builtin/submodule--helper.c
+++ b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@
 #include "diffcore.h"
 #include "diff.h"
 #include "object-store.h"
-#include "dir.h"
 #include "advice.h"
 
 #define OPT_QUIET (1 << 0)