diff --git a/.github/workflows/build_and_publish_docs.yml b/.github/workflows/build_and_publish_docs.yml
index d1f5e16b1..0b39e6060 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build_and_publish_docs.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build_and_publish_docs.yml
@@ -28,10 +28,6 @@ jobs:
           sudo apt-get install doxygen
           pip install -r doc/requirements.txt
 
-      - name: Checkout main branch
-        continue-on-error: true
-        run: git checkout --track origin/main
-
       - name: Build Documentation
         run: |
           cd doc
diff --git a/doc/requirements.txt b/doc/requirements.txt
index 3a7d8578b..dbd80852d 100644
--- a/doc/requirements.txt
+++ b/doc/requirements.txt
@@ -2,13 +2,5 @@
 # pip install --user -r requirements.txt
 #
 cairosvg
-
-# we have to pin these versions or we get a "this project needs sphinx v5.0" error
-# see https://github.com/sphinx-doc/sphinx/issues/11890
-sphinxcontrib-applehelp==1.0.4
-sphinxcontrib-devhelp==1.0.2
-sphinxcontrib-htmlhelp==2.0.1
-sphinxcontrib-qthelp==1.0.3
-sphinxcontrib-serializinghtml==1.1.5
-
-esp-docs==1.4.0
+sphinx==4.5.0
+esp-docs==1.8.0
diff --git a/docker_build_docs.sh b/docker_build_docs.sh
index 6ff7c3319..65593e423 100755
--- a/docker_build_docs.sh
+++ b/docker_build_docs.sh
@@ -5,5 +5,6 @@ export PYTHONPATH=$PYTHONPATH:/project/doc
 git config --global --add safe.directory /project
 # build the docs
 build-docs -t esp32 -l en --project-path /project/ --source-dir /project/doc/ --doxyfile_dir /project/doc/
+mkdir -p /project/docs
 # copy the docs to the docs folder
 cp -rf /project/_build/en/esp32/html/* /project/docs/.