diff --git a/doc/conf.py b/doc/conf.py
index 0f46992d..66ff3dcd 100644
--- a/doc/conf.py
+++ b/doc/conf.py
@@ -65,3 +65,7 @@
 
 # generate autosummary even if no references
 autosummary_generate = True
+
+# Switch to old behavior with html4, for a good display of references,
+# as described in https://github.com/sphinx-doc/sphinx/issues/6705
+html4_writer = True