diff --git a/mypyc/doc/conf.py b/mypyc/doc/conf.py
index 1014f4682fb6..305af1f2cecf 100644
--- a/mypyc/doc/conf.py
+++ b/mypyc/doc/conf.py
@@ -43,8 +43,13 @@
 
 # The theme to use for HTML and HTML Help pages.  See the documentation for
 # a list of builtin themes.
-#
-html_theme = 'alabaster'
+try:
+    import sphinx_rtd_theme
+except:
+    html_theme = 'default'
+else:
+    html_theme = 'sphinx_rtd_theme'
+    html_theme_path = [sphinx_rtd_theme.get_html_theme_path()]
 
 # Add any paths that contain custom static files (such as style sheets) here,
 # relative to this directory. They are copied after the builtin static files,
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index 14130d361bdd..8dd54a52825d 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ exclude =
   .cache,
   # Sphinx configuration is irrelevant
   docs/source/conf.py,
+  mypyc/doc/conf.py,
   # conflicting styles
   misc/*,
   # conflicting styles