diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index e565f49262f..5d9f4208e04 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -51,10 +51,7 @@ matrix:
       env: TESTING=docs
       before_script:
         - cd Doc
-        # Sphinx is pinned so that new versions that introduce new warnings won't suddenly cause build failures.
-        # (Updating the version is fine as long as no warnings are raised by doing so.)
-        # The theme used by the docs is stored separately, so we need to install that as well.
-        - python -m pip install sphinx==2.2.0 blurb python-docs-theme
+        - make venv PYTHON=python
       script:
         - make check suspicious html SPHINXOPTS="-q -W -j4"
     - name: "Documentation tests"
diff --git a/Doc/Makefile b/Doc/Makefile
index b8ca1edfbc6..f653d70674e 100644
--- a/Doc/Makefile
+++ b/Doc/Makefile
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ clean:
 venv:
 	$(PYTHON) -m venv $(VENVDIR)
 	$(VENVDIR)/bin/python3 -m pip install -U pip setuptools
-	$(VENVDIR)/bin/python3 -m pip install -U Sphinx==2.3.1 blurb python-docs-theme
+	$(VENVDIR)/bin/python3 -m pip install -r requirements.txt
 	@echo "The venv has been created in the $(VENVDIR) directory"
 
 dist:
diff --git a/Doc/requirements.txt b/Doc/requirements.txt
index 198446b350f..47b78eeac81 100644
--- a/Doc/requirements.txt
+++ b/Doc/requirements.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,12 @@
-# Requirements for docs build on netlify
-# Pin sphinx to version specified in .travis.yml
-sphinx==2.2.0
+# Requirements to build the Python documentation
+
+# Sphinx version is pinned so that new versions that introduce new warnings
+# won't suddenly cause build failures. Updating the version is fine as long
+# as no warnings are raised by doing so.
+sphinx==2.4.4
+
 blurb
+
+# The theme used by the documentation is stored separately, so we need
+# to install that as well.
 python-docs-theme