diff --git a/som.sh b/som.sh
index 2e8cffe..20d33bb 100755
--- a/som.sh
+++ b/som.sh
@@ -3,6 +3,10 @@ pushd `dirname $0` > /dev/null
 SCRIPT_PATH=`pwd`
 popd > /dev/null
 
-git --work-tree=${SCRIPT_PATH} submodule update --init --recursive > /dev/null 2>&1
+if [ ! -f "${SCRIPT_PATH}/core-lib/.git" ]
+then
+  echo Initializing core-lib submodule to have access to the required standard library
+  git --work-tree=${SCRIPT_PATH} submodule update --init --recursive > /dev/null 2>&1
+fi
 
 exec node ${SCRIPT_PATH}/src/node.js "$@"