diff --git a/docs/readthedocs_build.sh b/docs/readthedocs_build.sh
index ec5390bfc7..06ac7698d2 100755
--- a/docs/readthedocs_build.sh
+++ b/docs/readthedocs_build.sh
@@ -12,7 +12,10 @@ done < <(env -0)
 # In order to get the build number, we extract it from the host name
 extra_env+=("--//sphinxdocs:extra_env=HOSTNAME=$HOSTNAME")
 
+export RULES_PYTHON_ENABLE_PIPSTAR=1
+
 set -x
+export RULES_PYTHON_ENABLE_PIPSTAR=1
 bazel run \
   --config=rtd \
   "--//sphinxdocs:extra_defines=version=$READTHEDOCS_VERSION" \