diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index 5a5b78b31e..5f9de07f6c 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ commands =
 
 [testenv:docs]
 basepython = python3.9
-deps = sphinx
+deps = sphinx<4.4.0
 commands = sphinx-build -W -q -b html docs {envtmpdir}/html {posargs}
 
 # checks all links in the docs