diff --git a/README.MD b/README.MD
index 618cd28..8e0bc3d 100644
--- a/README.MD
+++ b/README.MD
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ Please see the respective READMEs and wikis for each of the above projects for a
 
 This extension also adds buttons to send output from webUI txt2img and img2img tools directly to openOutpaint which will also include the prompts used for convenience.
 
+**_2023-01-23: new `--lock-oo-submodule` commandline argument if you want to roll back to a previous version of openOutpaint and keep it there - be sure to install/run openOutpaint extension at least once before enabling this flag_**
+
 **Note: Requires `--api` flag enabled in your webui-user launch script!**
 
 **_FURTHER NOTE: the commandline flag `--gradio-debug` disables custom API routes and completely breaks openOutpaint. please remove it from your COMMANDLINE_ARGS before running openOutpaint._**
diff --git a/install.py b/install.py
index 4885d1e..3b5bb2c 100644
--- a/install.py
+++ b/install.py
@@ -10,11 +10,12 @@ installDir = os.path.join(scripts.basedir(), usefulDirs[0], usefulDirs[1])
 # Attempt to use launch module from webui
 command = f'"{git}" -C "' + installDir +\
     '" submodule update --init --recursive --remote'
-try:
-    from launch import run
-    stdout = run(command)
-    if len(stdout) > 0:
-        print(run(command))
-except ImportError:
-    print("[openoutpaint-extension] We failed to import the 'launch' module. Using 'os'")
-    os.system(command)
+if not os.path.isfile(os.path.join(installDir, "app", "index.html")): 
+    try:
+        from launch import run    
+        stdout = run(command)
+        if len(stdout) > 0:
+            print(run(command))
+    except ImportError:
+        print("[openoutpaint-extension] We failed to import the 'launch' module. Using 'os'")
+        os.system(command)
diff --git a/preload.py b/preload.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..29b726a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/preload.py
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+import argparse
+
+def preload(parser: argparse.ArgumentParser):
+        parser.add_argument("--lock-oo-submodule", action='store_true',
+                        help="(openOutpaint-webUI-extension) Prevent checking for main openOutpaint submodule updates.")        
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/scripts/main.py b/scripts/main.py
index dc1e1a7..1e577e3 100644
--- a/scripts/main.py
+++ b/scripts/main.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from modules import script_callbacks, scripts
+from modules import script_callbacks, scripts, shared
 import gradio as gr
 from fastapi import FastAPI
 import os
@@ -40,6 +40,12 @@ def started(demo, app: FastAPI):
 
 
 def add_tab():
+    if (not shared.cmd_opts.lock_oo_submodule):
+        git = os.environ.get('GIT', "git")
+        run(f'"{git}" -C "' + scripts.basedir() +
+            '" submodule update --init --recursive --remote')
+    else: 
+        print("locked openOutpaint submodule, not updating")
     with gr.Blocks(analytics_enabled=False) as ui:
         #refresh = gr.Button(value="refresh", variant="primary")
         canvas = gr.HTML(