diff --git a/.cloudbuild/ci/doc-tests.yaml b/.cloudbuild/ci/doc-tests.yaml
index 19928b9432dbd..b63204376c76a 100644
--- a/.cloudbuild/ci/doc-tests.yaml
+++ b/.cloudbuild/ci/doc-tests.yaml
@@ -1,11 +1,9 @@
 steps:
   - name: quay.io/gravitational/next:main
     id: docs-test
-    env:
-      - WITH_EXTERNAL_LINKS=true
     entrypoint: /bin/bash
     dir: /src
-    args: 
-      - -c 
-      - ln -s /workspace /src/content && yarn markdown-lint-external-links
+    args:
+      - -c
+      - ln -s /workspace /src/content && yarn markdown-lint
     timeout: 10m
diff --git a/build.assets/Makefile b/build.assets/Makefile
index c1809a22185e5..c695a3ab6202d 100644
--- a/build.assets/Makefile
+++ b/build.assets/Makefile
@@ -415,7 +415,7 @@ docsbox:
 .PHONY:test-docs
 test-docs: docsbox
 	docker run --platform=linux/amd64 -i $(NOROOT) -v $$(pwd)/..:/src/content $(DOCSBOX) \
-		/bin/sh -c "yarn markdown-lint"
+		/bin/sh -c "yarn markdown-lint-external-links"
 
 #
 # Print the Go version used to build Teleport.