diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..6efc4871542c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitmodules
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+[submodule "cpp/submodules/parquet-testing"]
+	path = cpp/submodules/parquet-testing
+	url = https://github.com/apache/parquet-testing.git
+[submodule "testing"]
+	path = testing
+	url = https://github.com/apache/arrow-testing