diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 0cd42464..6f16dcd4 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ clean:
 vignettes:
 	(cd docs; remake install_vignettes)
 
-staticdocs:
+staticdocs: vignettes
 	@mkdir -p inst/staticdocs
 	Rscript -e "library(methods); staticdocs::build_site()"
 	rm -f vignettes/*.html
diff --git a/docs/R/vignettes.R b/docs/R/vignettes.R
index ad987781..f52bd0d5 100644
--- a/docs/R/vignettes.R
+++ b/docs/R/vignettes.R
@@ -26,10 +26,9 @@ build_vignettes <- function(cleanup=FALSE) {
   copy <- c("figures", "figure",
             "mee.bst", "suppmat.sty", "refs.bib",
             "growth_model_pars_core.tex", "growth_model_pars_hyper.tex")
-  if (cleanup) {
-    unlink(file.path(dest, copy), recursive=TRUE)
-  } else {
-    file.copy(copy, dest, recursive=TRUE)
+  unlink(file.path(dest, copy), recursive=TRUE)
+  if (!cleanup) {
+    file.copy(copy, dest, recursive=TRUE, overwrite=TRUE)
     devtools::build_vignettes()
   }
 }
diff --git a/docs/remake.yml b/docs/remake.yml
index 3b9c8968..b90db9e5 100644
--- a/docs/remake.yml
+++ b/docs/remake.yml
@@ -157,9 +157,9 @@ targets:
       - ./suppmat.sty
 
   vignettes/demography.Rnw:
-    command: file.copy("demography.tex", target_name)
+    command: file.copy("demography.tex", target_name, overwrite=TRUE)
   vignettes/physiology.Rnw:
-    command: file.copy("physiology.tex", target_name)
+    command: file.copy("physiology.tex", target_name, overwrite=TRUE)
   vignettes/plant.Rmd:
     command: patch_md("plant.md", target_name)
   vignettes/equilibrium.Rmd: