diff --git a/.readthedocs.yml b/.readthedocs.yml
index 17ee24133..4f2df5724 100644
--- a/.readthedocs.yml
+++ b/.readthedocs.yml
@@ -8,4 +8,7 @@ build:
     python: "3"
 sphinx:
   builder: html
-  configuration: sphinx/conf.py
\ No newline at end of file
+  configuration: sphinx/conf.py
+python:
+  install:
+    - requirements: sphinx/requirements.txt
diff --git a/sphinx/requirements.txt b/sphinx/requirements.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..28c2bdaab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sphinx/requirements.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+# needed for readthedocs builds:
+GitPython
+myst_parser
+sphinx_rtd_theme