diff --git a/docs_sphinx/conf.py b/docs_sphinx/conf.py
index d530e947..926cb911 100644
--- a/docs_sphinx/conf.py
+++ b/docs_sphinx/conf.py
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@
 sys.path.insert(0, os.path.abspath('..'))
 sys.path.insert(0, os.path.abspath('.'))
 
+brian2tools_dir = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__),
+                                               '..', 'brian2tools'))
 # -- General configuration ------------------------------------------------
 
 # If your documentation needs a minimal Sphinx version, state it here.
@@ -85,8 +87,7 @@
     from brian2tools.version import version
 except (ImportError, LookupError):
     from setuptools_scm import get_version
-    import brian2tools
-    version = get_version(relative_to=brian2tools.__file__)
+    version = get_version(relative_to=brian2tools_dir)
 
 # The language for content autogenerated by Sphinx. Refer to documentation
 # for a list of supported languages.
@@ -402,8 +403,7 @@
 # Create api docs
 def run_apidoc(_):
     import sphinx.apidoc as apidoc
-    import brian2tools
-    brian2tools_dir = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(brian2tools.__file__))
+    brian2tools_dir = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '..', 'brian2tools'))
     apidoc.main(argv=['sphinx-apidoc', '-f', '-e', '-M', '-o', './reference',
                       brian2tools_dir, os.path.join(brian2tools_dir, 'tests')])
 
diff --git a/rtd-requirements.txt b/rtd-requirements.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index b6970df7..00000000
--- a/rtd-requirements.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-setuptools_scm
-sphinxcontrib-issuetracker