diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
index 72d743e426f5..3977babe5127 100644
--- a/.gitmodules
+++ b/.gitmodules
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@
 [submodule "sonic-linux-kernel"]
 	path = src/sonic-linux-kernel
 	url = https://github.com/Azure/sonic-linux-kernel
-	branch = stretch
 [submodule "sonic-sairedis"]
 	path = src/sonic-sairedis
 	url = https://github.com/Azure/sonic-sairedis