diff --git a/doc/source/dev/dev-quickstart.rst b/doc/source/dev/dev-quickstart.rst
index 219cbe4ebe..166b8fef1d 100644
--- a/doc/source/dev/dev-quickstart.rst
+++ b/doc/source/dev/dev-quickstart.rst
@@ -412,7 +412,7 @@ commands to build the documentation set::
     source .tox/venv/bin/activate
 
     # build the docs
-    python setup.py build_sphinx
+    tox -egendocs
 
 Now use your browser to open the top-level index.html located at::
 
diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index 3064fc9545..888b4582f4 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -40,6 +40,12 @@ envdir = {toxworkdir}/venv
 commands =
   bash tools/config/generate_sample.sh -b . -p ironic -o etc/ironic
 
+[testenv:gendocs]
+sitepackages = False
+envdir = {toxworkdir}/venv
+commands =
+  python setup.py build_sphinx
+
 [testenv:venv]
 setenv = PYTHONHASHSEED=0
 commands = {posargs}