diff --git a/changelog.d/10931.bugfix b/changelog.d/10931.bugfix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3f30c9ccf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/10931.bugfix
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Fix debian builds due to dh-virtualenv no longer being able to build their docs.
diff --git a/docker/Dockerfile-dhvirtualenv b/docker/Dockerfile-dhvirtualenv
index 017be8555..1dd88140c 100644
--- a/docker/Dockerfile-dhvirtualenv
+++ b/docker/Dockerfile-dhvirtualenv
@@ -47,8 +47,9 @@ RUN apt-get update -qq -o Acquire::Languages=none \
     && cd /dh-virtualenv \
     && env DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive mk-build-deps -ri -t "apt-get -y --no-install-recommends"
 
-# build it
-RUN cd /dh-virtualenv && dpkg-buildpackage -us -uc -b
+# Build it. Note that building the docs doesn't work due to differences in
+# Sphinx APIs across versions/distros.
+RUN cd /dh-virtualenv && DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS=nodoc dpkg-buildpackage -us -uc -b
 
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