diff --git a/docs/conf.py b/docs/conf.py
index b1be029625..ad1f755911 100644
--- a/docs/conf.py
+++ b/docs/conf.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 # documentation root, use os.path.abspath to make it absolute, like shown here.
 #
 import os
-
+import shutil
 import sys
 
 sys.path.insert(0, os.path.abspath('..'))
@@ -250,6 +250,11 @@
 _docs_to_remove = []
 
 
+def config_inited(app, config):
+    if on_rtd:
+        shutil.rmtree(os.path.join(app.doctreedir, 'environment.pickle'))
+
+
 def builder_inited(app):
     """Run during Sphinx `builder-inited` phase.
 
@@ -261,7 +266,6 @@ def builder_inited(app):
     # Remove pages when builder matches any referenced in exclude_from_builder
     if exclude_from_builder.get(app.builder.name):
         _docs_to_remove.extend(exclude_from_builder[app.builder.name])
-        extensions[-4:] = []
     print('reading _docs_to_remove')
     print(_docs_to_remove)
 
@@ -328,6 +332,7 @@ def setup(app):
         app.add_stylesheet('custom.css')
 
     # Run extra steps to remove module docs when running with a non-html builder
+    app.connect('config-inited', config_inited)
     app.connect('builder-inited', builder_inited)
     app.connect('env-get-outdated', env_get_outdated)
     app.connect('doctree-read', doctree_read)