diff --git a/docs/reference/meson.build b/docs/reference/meson.build
index 1654463490..905af97d00 100644
--- a/docs/reference/meson.build
+++ b/docs/reference/meson.build
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ if get_option('gtk_doc')
   # for the time being
   dependency('gtk-doc', version: '>=1.99',
     fallback: ['gtk-doc', 'dummy_dep'],
-    default_options: ['tests=false'])
+    default_options: ['tests=false', 'yelp_manual=false'])
 
   glib_prefix = dependency('glib-2.0').get_pkgconfig_variable('prefix')
   glib_docpath = join_paths(glib_prefix, 'share', 'gtk-doc', 'html')