diff --git a/python/docs/Makefile b/python/docs/Makefile
index 5058c1206171..428b0d24b568 100644
--- a/python/docs/Makefile
+++ b/python/docs/Makefile
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 # Minimal makefile for Sphinx documentation
 
 # You can set these variables from the command line.
-SPHINXOPTS    ?= "-W" "-j" "auto"
+SPHINXOPTS    ?= "-W" "-j" "4"
 SPHINXBUILD   ?= sphinx-build
 SOURCEDIR     ?= source
 BUILDDIR      ?= build