diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
deleted file mode 100644
index 129d5149..00000000
--- a/.gitmodules
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-[submodule "flux-core"]
-	path = flux-core
-	url = https://github.com/flux-framework/flux-core.git
diff --git a/flux-core b/flux-core
deleted file mode 160000
index 622b8b37..00000000
--- a/flux-core
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Subproject commit 622b8b37b1457c9bfe1d1f08b531b9d02963b9c2