diff --git a/.readthedocs.yaml b/.readthedocs.yaml
index bc5a453881..8ad8963148 100644
--- a/.readthedocs.yaml
+++ b/.readthedocs.yaml
@@ -9,7 +9,11 @@ version: 2
 build:
   os: ubuntu-20.04
   tools:
-    python: "3.9"
+    python: "3.8"
+
+python:
+  install:
+    - requirements: docs/requirements.txt
 
 mkdocs:
   configuration: docs/mkdocs.yml
diff --git a/docs/requirements.txt b/docs/requirements.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4c8f017dd1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/requirements.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+mkdocs-material