diff --git a/docs/conf.py b/docs/conf.py
index 22ecb6fa..71813ad7 100644
--- a/docs/conf.py
+++ b/docs/conf.py
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ def setup(app):
 
 # -- General configuration ----------------------------------------------------
 
-needs_sphinx = '1.3'
+needs_sphinx = '1.0'
 
 extensions = [
     'sphinx.ext.autodoc',
@@ -114,7 +114,10 @@ modindex_common_prefix = ['mopidy.']
 
 # -- Options for HTML output --------------------------------------------------
 
-html_theme = 'sphinx_rtd_theme'
+# 'sphinx_rtd_theme' is bundled with Sphinx 1.3, which we don't have when
+# building the docs as part of the Debian packages on e.g. Debian wheezy.
+#html_theme = 'sphinx_rtd_theme'
+html_theme = 'default'
 html_theme_path = ['_themes']
 html_static_path = ['_static']