diff --git a/ci_boost_release.py b/ci_boost_release.py
index fcb6bb7..02259a8 100644
--- a/ci_boost_release.py
+++ b/ci_boost_release.py
@@ -559,6 +559,31 @@ class script(script_common):
             "using saxonhe ;",
         )
 
+        # Before we build the full docs, make sure each repo opting into Antora
+        # doc generation is a git repository, and not a submodule
+        # In theory, this is only a temporary workaround and Antora will someday
+        # be able to work with submodules.
+        antora_libraries = []
+
+        os.chdir(self.root_dir)
+        for directoryname in glob.iglob("libs/*", recursive=False):
+            if os.path.isdir(directoryname) and os.path.isfile(
+                os.path.join(directoryname, "doc", "antora_docs.sh")
+            ):  # filter dirs
+                antora_libraries.append(directoryname)
+
+        for antora_lib in antora_libraries:
+            os.chdir(antora_lib)
+            # for a submodule .git is a file pointing to the gitdir
+            if not os.path.isfile(".git"):
+                print("skipping library: %s, already a git repository" % antora_lib)
+                continue
+
+            utils.check_call("rm", ".git")
+            utils.check_call("git", "init")
+            utils.check_call("git", "add", "doc")
+            utils.check_call("git", "commit", "-m", '"dummy antora commit"')
+
         # Build the full docs, and all the submodule docs.
         os.chdir(os.path.join(self.root_dir, "doc"))