diff --git a/mercurial/subrepo.py b/mercurial/subrepo.py
--- a/mercurial/subrepo.py
+++ b/mercurial/subrepo.py
@@ -418,6 +418,7 @@ class hgsubrepo(abstractsubrepo):
                                % (inst, subrelpath(self)))
 
     def archive(self, ui, archiver, prefix):
+        self._get(self._state + ('hg',))
         abstractsubrepo.archive(self, ui, archiver, prefix)
 
         rev = self._state[1]
diff --git a/tests/test-subrepo-recursion.t b/tests/test-subrepo-recursion.t
--- a/tests/test-subrepo-recursion.t
+++ b/tests/test-subrepo-recursion.t
@@ -304,6 +304,47 @@ Test archiving to zip file (unzip output
   archiving (foo/bar) [================================>] 1/1
                                                               \r (esc)
 
+Test archiving a revision that references a subrepo that is not yet
+cloned:
+
+  $ hg clone -U . ../empty
+  $ cd ../empty
+  $ hg archive --subrepos -r tip ../archive.tar.gz 2>&1 | $TESTDIR/filtercr.py
+  
+  archiving [                                           ] 0/3
+  archiving [                                           ] 0/3
+  archiving [=============>                             ] 1/3
+  archiving [=============>                             ] 1/3
+  archiving [===========================>               ] 2/3
+  archiving [===========================>               ] 2/3
+  archiving [==========================================>] 3/3
+  archiving [==========================================>] 3/3
+                                                              
+  archiving (foo) [                                     ] 0/3
+  archiving (foo) [                                     ] 0/3
+  archiving (foo) [===========>                         ] 1/3
+  archiving (foo) [===========>                         ] 1/3
+  archiving (foo) [=======================>             ] 2/3
+  archiving (foo) [=======================>             ] 2/3
+  archiving (foo) [====================================>] 3/3
+  archiving (foo) [====================================>] 3/3
+                                                              
+  archiving (foo/bar) [                                 ] 0/1
+  archiving (foo/bar) [                                 ] 0/1
+  archiving (foo/bar) [================================>] 1/1
+  archiving (foo/bar) [================================>] 1/1
+                                                              
+  cloning subrepo foo from $TESTTMP/repo/foo
+  cloning subrepo foo/bar from $TESTTMP/repo/foo/bar
+  
+The newly cloned subrepos contain no working copy:
+
+  $ hg -R foo summary
+  parent: -1:000000000000  (no revision checked out)
+  branch: default
+  commit: (clean)
+  update: 4 new changesets (update)
+
 Disable progress extension and cleanup:
 
   $ mv $HGRCPATH.no-progress $HGRCPATH