diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 40d6e6ca0f..b0cc783123 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ owncloud
 config/config.php
 config/mount.php
 apps/inc.php
-3rdparty
 
 # ignore all apps except core ones
 apps/*
diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b9c1a3702c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitmodules
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+[submodule "3rdparty"]
+	path = 3rdparty
+	url = git://github.com/owncloud/3rdparty.git
diff --git a/3rdparty b/3rdparty
new file mode 160000
index 0000000000..63cb284792
--- /dev/null
+++ b/3rdparty
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Subproject commit 63cb2847921d668c2b48b572872cfddbcf41bea4