diff --git a/doc/org/init.el.in b/doc/org/init.el.in
index b6ad3a55a..8c398ac29 100644
--- a/doc/org/init.el.in
+++ b/doc/org/init.el.in
@@ -4,6 +4,9 @@
 
 (print (concat "Org " (org-version)))
 (setq org-export-htmlize-output-type 'css)
+; the .org-timestamp directory does not always exist, is not always
+; created by org, and that causes issues on our buildfarm.
+(setq org-publish-use-timestamps-flag nil)
 
 (setq org-babel-python-command "/usr/bin/python3")
 (org-babel-do-load-languages