diff --git a/site/Makefile b/site/Makefile
index e0ee3dd0aa..da1fdcaab9 100644
--- a/site/Makefile
+++ b/site/Makefile
@@ -1,19 +1,17 @@
 HUGO?=hugo
-# the officially recommended unofficial docker image
-HUGO_IMG?=hugomods/hugo:0.115.3
+HUGO_VERSION?=$(shell hugo version 2>/dev/null | awk '{print $$2}' | cut -d '.' -f 2)
+HUGO_IMG?=hugomods/hugo:std-go-git-0.134.3
 
 THEME_MODULE = github.com/nginxinc/nginx-hugo-theme
-## Pulls the current theme version from the Netlify settings
-THEME_VERSION = $(NGINX_THEME_VERSION)
-NETLIFY_DEPLOY_URL = ${DEPLOY_PRIME_URL}
 
-# if there's no local hugo, fallback to docker
-ifeq (, $(shell ${HUGO} version 2> /dev/null))
-ifeq (, $(shell docker version 2> /dev/null))
-    $(error Docker and Hugo are not installed. Hugo (<0.91) or Docker are required to build the local preview.)
+ifeq ($(shell [ $(HUGO_VERSION) -gt 133 2>/dev/null ] && echo true || echo false), true)
+    $(info Hugo is available and has a version greater than 133. Proceeding with build.)
 else
-    HUGO=docker run --rm -it -v ${CURDIR}:/src -p 1313:1313 ${HUGO_IMG} hugo
-endif
+    $(warning Hugo is not available or using a version less than 134. Attempting to use docker. HUGO_VERSION=$(HUGO_VERSION))
+    HUGO=docker run --rm -it -v ${CURDIR}:/src -p 1313:1313 ${HUGO_IMG} /src/hugo-entrypoint.sh
+    ifeq (, $(shell docker version 2> /dev/null))
+        $(error Hugo (>0.134) or Docker are required to build the local previews.)
+    endif
 endif
 
 MARKDOWNLINT?=markdownlint
@@ -22,9 +20,6 @@ MARKDOWNLINT_IMG?=ghcr.io/igorshubovych/markdownlint-cli:latest
 # if there's no local markdownlint, fallback to docker
 ifeq (, $(shell ${MARKDOWNLINT} version 2> /dev/null))
 ifeq (, $(shell docker version 2> /dev/null))
-ifneq (, $(shell $(NETLIFY) "true"))
-    $(error Docker and markdownlint are not installed. markdownlint or Docker are required to lint.)
-endif
 else
     MARKDOWNLINT=docker run --rm -i -v ${CURDIR}:/src --workdir /src ${MARKDOWNLINT_IMG}
 endif
@@ -35,23 +30,14 @@ MARKDOWNLINKCHECK_IMG?=ghcr.io/tcort/markdown-link-check:stable
 # if there's no local markdown-link-check, fallback to docker
 ifeq (, $(shell ${MARKDOWNLINKCHECK} --version 2> /dev/null))
 ifeq (, $(shell docker version 2> /dev/null))
-ifneq (, $(shell $(NETLIFY) "true"))
-    $(error Docker and markdown-link-check are not installed. markdown-link-check or Docker are required to check links.)
-endif
 else
-    MARKDOWNLINKCHECK=docker run --rm -it -v ${CURDIR}:/site --workdir /site ${MARKDOWNLINKCHECK_IMG}
+    MARKDOWNLINKCHECK=docker run --rm -it -v ${CURDIR}:/docs --workdir /docs ${MARKDOWNLINKCHECK_IMG}
+endif
 endif
 endif
 
-.PHONY: all all-staging all-dev all-local clean hugo-mod build-production build-staging build-dev docs-drafts docs deploy-preview
-
-all: hugo-mod build-production
-
-all-staging: hugo-mod build-staging
-
-all-dev: hugo-mod build-dev
 
-all-local: clean hugo-mod build-production
+.PHONY: docs docs-draft docs-local clean hugo-get hugo-tidy lint-markdown link-check
 
 docs:
 	${HUGO}
@@ -65,6 +51,20 @@ watch:
 watch-drafts:
 	${HUGO} --bind 0.0.0.0 -p 1313 server -D --disableFastRender
 
+clean:
+	[ -d "public" ] && rm -rf "public"
+
+hugo-get:
+	hugo mod get -u github.com/nginxinc/nginx-hugo-theme
+
+hugo-tidy:
+	hugo mod tidy
+
+hugo-update: hugo-get hugo-tidy
+
+lint-markdown:
+	${MARKDOWNLINT} -c .markdownlint.yaml  -- content
+
 link-check:
 	${MARKDOWNLINKCHECK} $(shell find content -name '*.md')
 
diff --git a/site/go.mod b/site/go.mod
index 7d928ceded..c45d1aa22e 100644
--- a/site/go.mod
+++ b/site/go.mod
@@ -2,4 +2,4 @@ module github.com/nginxinc/nginx-gateway-fabric/site
 
 go 1.21
 
-require github.com/nginxinc/nginx-hugo-theme v0.41.14 // indirect
+require github.com/nginxinc/nginx-hugo-theme v0.41.19 // indirect
diff --git a/site/go.sum b/site/go.sum
index 1cbbb6618c..2fa80d4abc 100644
--- a/site/go.sum
+++ b/site/go.sum
@@ -1,2 +1,6 @@
 github.com/nginxinc/nginx-hugo-theme v0.41.14 h1:OraNB01CdMJXufPddvIVt6qn6Mj38Z/XCVIWBgVtuY0=
 github.com/nginxinc/nginx-hugo-theme v0.41.14/go.mod h1:DPNgSS5QYxkjH/BfH4uPDiTfODqWJ50NKZdorguom8M=
+github.com/nginxinc/nginx-hugo-theme v0.41.18 h1:4weO2h6L56lebyX7G+iqHd481RCXQQParhb1lARwdLQ=
+github.com/nginxinc/nginx-hugo-theme v0.41.18/go.mod h1:DPNgSS5QYxkjH/BfH4uPDiTfODqWJ50NKZdorguom8M=
+github.com/nginxinc/nginx-hugo-theme v0.41.19 h1:CyZOhU8q0p3nQ+ZTFRx7c/Dq9rxV1mShADIHz0vDoHo=
+github.com/nginxinc/nginx-hugo-theme v0.41.19/go.mod h1:DPNgSS5QYxkjH/BfH4uPDiTfODqWJ50NKZdorguom8M=
diff --git a/site/hugo-entrypoint.sh b/site/hugo-entrypoint.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..dc72123528
--- /dev/null
+++ b/site/hugo-entrypoint.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+hugo mod get -u github.com/nginxinc/nginx-hugo-theme
+hugo $*