diff --git a/t/lib-submodule-update.sh b/t/lib-submodule-update.sh
index 79cdd34a54..915eb4a7c6 100755
--- a/t/lib-submodule-update.sh
+++ b/t/lib-submodule-update.sh
@@ -69,10 +69,7 @@ create_lib_submodule_repo () {
 
 		git checkout -b "replace_sub1_with_directory" "add_sub1" &&
 		git submodule update &&
-		(
-			cd sub1 &&
-			git checkout modifications
-		) &&
+		git -C sub1 checkout modifications &&
 		git rm --cached sub1 &&
 		rm sub1/.git* &&
 		git config -f .gitmodules --remove-section "submodule.sub1" &&