diff --git a/.build_rtd_docs/conf.py b/.build_rtd_docs/conf.py
index 2de05fbe9be..bfc37a3a41f 100644
--- a/.build_rtd_docs/conf.py
+++ b/.build_rtd_docs/conf.py
@@ -81,6 +81,18 @@
 dst = os.path.join(dstdir, fpth)
 shutil.copy(src, dst)
 
+# -- build the deprecations table --------------------------------------------
+print("Build the deprecations markdown table")
+pth = os.path.join("..", "doc", "mf6io", "mf6ivar")
+args = (sys.executable, "deprecations.py")
+# run the command
+proc = Popen(args, stdout=PIPE, stderr=PIPE, cwd=pth)
+stdout, stderr = proc.communicate()
+if stdout:
+    print(stdout.decode("utf-8"))
+if stderr:
+    print("Errors:\n{}".format(stderr.decode("utf-8")))
+
 # -- copy deprecations markdown ---------------------------------------------
 print("Copy the deprecations table")
 dstdir = "_mf6run"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 38ed678f955..7bc96b13c3e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ jobs:
             version: ${{ inputs.compiler_version }}
             optimization: 2
             parallel: false
-          - os: macos-13
+          - os: macos-12
             compiler: ${{ inputs.compiler_toolchain }}
             version: ${{ inputs.compiler_version }}
             optimization: 2
diff --git a/distribution/build_docs.py b/distribution/build_docs.py
index e34241b8791..e1efed3e019 100644
--- a/distribution/build_docs.py
+++ b/distribution/build_docs.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 from datetime import datetime
 from os import PathLike, environ
 from pathlib import Path
-from pprint import pprint
+from pprint import pformat, pprint
 from tempfile import TemporaryDirectory
 from typing import List, Optional
 from urllib.error import HTTPError
@@ -282,7 +282,13 @@ def files_match(tex_path, dfn_path, ignored):
             and not any(pattern in f.name for pattern in ignored)
         ]
 
-        return set(tex_names) == set(dfn_names)
+        tex = set(tex_names)
+        dfn = set(dfn_names)
+        diff = tex ^ dfn
+        assert not any(diff), \
+            f"=> symmetric difference:\n{pformat(diff)}\n"
+            f"=> tex - dfn:\n{pformat(tex - dfn)}\n"
+            f"=> dfn - tex:\n{pformat(dfn - tex)}\n"
 
     with set_dir(PROJ_ROOT_PATH / "doc" / "mf6io" / "mf6ivar"):
         ignored = ["appendix", "common"]
diff --git a/doc/mf6io/mf6ivar/deprecations.py b/doc/mf6io/mf6ivar/deprecations.py
index d6896607e83..9f2efe0f5f5 100644
--- a/doc/mf6io/mf6ivar/deprecations.py
+++ b/doc/mf6io/mf6ivar/deprecations.py
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
-import os
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import List, Optional, Tuple
 
 from packaging.version import Version
 
+PROJ_ROOT_PATH = Path(__file__).parents[3]
+MF6IVAR_PATH = PROJ_ROOT_PATH / "doc" / "mf6io" / "mf6ivar"
+
 
 def get_deprecations(
     dfndir,
@@ -33,7 +35,7 @@ def get_deprecations(
 
 def create_deprecations_file(dfndir, mddir, verbose):
     deprecations = get_deprecations(dfndir)
-    deps_path = (Path(mddir) / "deprecations.md").absolute()
+    deps_path = (mddir / "deprecations.md").absolute()
     if verbose:
         print(f"Found {len(deprecations)} deprecations, writing {deps_path}")
     with open(deps_path, "w") as f:
@@ -50,6 +52,7 @@ def create_deprecations_file(dfndir, mddir, verbose):
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
-    dfndir = os.path.join(".", "dfn")
-    mddir = os.path.join(".", "md")
+    dfndir = MF6IVAR_PATH / "dfn"
+    mddir = MF6IVAR_PATH / "md"
+    mddir.mkdir(exist_ok=True)
     create_deprecations_file(dfndir, mddir, verbose=True)