diff --git a/.readthedocs.yaml b/.readthedocs.yaml
index 2151c3dd..83c0eeca 100644
--- a/.readthedocs.yaml
+++ b/.readthedocs.yaml
@@ -16,7 +16,10 @@ formats:
 python:
   # Mininum supported Python version
   version: "3.6"
+  # Install twine first, because RTD uses `--upgrade-strategy eager`,
+  # which installs the latest version of docutils via readme_renderer.
+  # However, Sphinx 4.2.0 requires docutils>=0.14,<0.18.
   install:
-    - requirements: docs/requirements.txt
     - method: pip
       path: .
+    - requirements: docs/requirements.txt