diff --git a/.github/actions/pip-wheels/action.yml b/.github/actions/pip-wheels/action.yml
index 5a1efce18c..3defc33643 100644
--- a/.github/actions/pip-wheels/action.yml
+++ b/.github/actions/pip-wheels/action.yml
@@ -34,7 +34,10 @@ runs:
         fp = 'requirements.dump'
         with open(fp) as fopen:
           lines = [ln.strip() for ln in fopen.readlines()]
+        # prevent collisions with version appendix
         lines = [ln.split('+')[0] for ln in lines if '-e ' not in ln]
+        # drop sphinx theme package
+        lines = [ln for ln in lines if 'sphinx-theme' not in ln]
         with open(fp, 'w') as fopen:
           fopen.writelines([ln + os.linesep for ln in lines])
       shell: python
diff --git a/.github/workflows/docs-build.yml b/.github/workflows/docs-build.yml
index e35236cbee..683a9b1a05 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/docs-build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/docs-build.yml
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           pip install awscli
           aws s3 sync --no-sign-request s3://sphinx-packages/ ${PYPI_LOCAL_DIR}
+          pip install lai-sphinx-theme -U -f ${PYPI_LOCAL_DIR}
 
       - name: pip wheels cache
         uses: actions/cache/restore@v3
@@ -75,7 +76,6 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           mkdir -p ${PYPI_CACHE_DIR}  # in case cache was not hit
           ls -lh ${PYPI_CACHE_DIR}
-          mkdir -p ${PYPI_LOCAL_DIR}  # in case template is not pulled
           pip install .[all] -U -r requirements/${{ matrix.pkg-name }}/docs.txt \
             -f ${PYPI_LOCAL_DIR} -f ${PYPI_CACHE_DIR} -f ${TORCH_URL}
           pip list
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ jobs:
       # Uploading docs to GCS, so they can be served on lightning.ai
       - name: Upload docs/${{ matrix.pkg-name }}/release to GCS 🪣
         if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/')
-        run: gsutil -m rsync -d -R docs/build/html/ ${GCP_TARGET}/${{  github.ref_name }}
+        run: gsutil -m rsync -d -R docs/build/html/ ${GCP_TARGET}/${{ github.ref_name }}
 
       # Uploading docs as archive to GCS, so they can be as backup
       - name: Upload docs as archive to GCS 🪣
diff --git a/requirements/app/docs.txt b/requirements/app/docs.txt
index e931fcfe66..f2db5000b9 100644
--- a/requirements/app/docs.txt
+++ b/requirements/app/docs.txt
@@ -1,3 +1 @@
 -r ../docs.txt
-
-lai-sphinx-theme
diff --git a/requirements/docs.txt b/requirements/docs.txt
index 749e958b18..7c91f77f4d 100644
--- a/requirements/docs.txt
+++ b/requirements/docs.txt
@@ -17,3 +17,5 @@ sphinxcontrib-video ==0.2.0
 jinja2 <3.2.0
 
 lightning-utilities >=0.9.0
+
+lai-sphinx-theme
diff --git a/requirements/fabric/docs.txt b/requirements/fabric/docs.txt
index 506eb31a3c..be3482681c 100644
--- a/requirements/fabric/docs.txt
+++ b/requirements/fabric/docs.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
 -r ../docs.txt
 
-lai-sphinx-theme
 tensorboard
diff --git a/requirements/pytorch/docs.txt b/requirements/pytorch/docs.txt
index e7c6c754e1..2128719693 100644
--- a/requirements/pytorch/docs.txt
+++ b/requirements/pytorch/docs.txt
@@ -3,4 +3,5 @@
 nbformat  # used for generate empty notebook
 ipython[notebook] <8.7.0
 setuptools<58.0  # workaround for `error in ipython setup command: use_2to3 is invalid.`
-lai-sphinx-theme
+
+-r ../../_notebooks/.actions/requires.txt