diff --git a/environment.yml b/environment.yml
index 2429f4ab3d699..87f3f4b13b5c5 100644
--- a/environment.yml
+++ b/environment.yml
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ dependencies:
   # documentation
   - gitpython  # obtain contributors from git for whatsnew
   - gitdb2=2.0.6  # GH-32060
-  - sphinx
+  - sphinx<=3.1.1
 
   # documentation (jupyter notebooks)
   - nbconvert>=5.4.1
diff --git a/requirements-dev.txt b/requirements-dev.txt
index 44c975a3b3cfb..d5d3fc54b47e7 100644
--- a/requirements-dev.txt
+++ b/requirements-dev.txt
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ mypy==0.730
 pycodestyle
 gitpython
 gitdb2==2.0.6
-sphinx
+sphinx<=3.1.1
 nbconvert>=5.4.1
 nbsphinx
 pandoc