diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 9cb0a920b4..ee0b6945f8 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -38,7 +38,9 @@ scrub: FORCE
 	find tutorial -name "*.ipynb" | xargs python tutorial/source/cleannb.py
 
 doctest: FORCE
-	python -m pytest -p tests.doctest_fixtures --doctest-modules -o filterwarnings=ignore pyro
+	# We skip testing pyro.distributions.torch wrapper classes because
+	# they include torch docstrings which are tested upstream.
+	python -m pytest -p tests.doctest_fixtures --doctest-modules -o filterwarnings=ignore pyro --ignore=pyro/distributions/torch.py
 
 perf-test: FORCE
 	bash scripts/perf_test.sh ${ref}
diff --git a/docs/source/conf.py b/docs/source/conf.py
index 806852abb8..e9c4bf84b8 100644
--- a/docs/source/conf.py
+++ b/docs/source/conf.py
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@
     "sphinx.ext.graphviz",  #
     "sphinx.ext.autodoc",
     "sphinx.ext.doctest",
+    'sphinx.ext.napoleon',
 ]
 
 # Disable documentation inheritance so as to avoid inheriting
diff --git a/pyro/contrib/forecast/forecaster.py b/pyro/contrib/forecast/forecaster.py
index 505660bb08..14e9226d89 100644
--- a/pyro/contrib/forecast/forecaster.py
+++ b/pyro/contrib/forecast/forecaster.py
@@ -70,6 +70,8 @@ def model(self, zero_data, covariates):
     @property
     def time_plate(self):
         """
+        Helper to create a ``pyro.plate`` over time.
+
         :returns: A plate named "time" with size ``covariates.size(-2)`` and
             ``dim=-1``. This is available only during model execution.
         :rtype: :class:`~pyro.plate`
diff --git a/pyro/distributions/torch.py b/pyro/distributions/torch.py
index c6e8c7e1d2..805b1b83b6 100644
--- a/pyro/distributions/torch.py
+++ b/pyro/distributions/torch.py
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
 import math
+import re
+import textwrap
 
 import torch
 
@@ -334,6 +336,16 @@ def support(self):
         return constraints.interval(self._unbroadcasted_low, self._unbroadcasted_high)
 
 
+def _cat_docstrings(*docstrings):
+    result = "\n".join(textwrap.dedent(s.lstrip("\n")) for s in docstrings)
+    result = re.sub("\n\n+", "\n\n", result)
+    # Drop torch-specific lines.
+    result = "".join(
+        line for line in result.splitlines(keepends=True) if "xdoctest" not in line
+    )
+    return result
+
+
 # Programmatically load all distributions from PyTorch.
 __all__ = []
 for _name, _Dist in torch.distributions.__dict__.items():
@@ -354,10 +366,11 @@ def support(self):
     _PyroDist.__doc__ = """
     Wraps :class:`{}.{}` with
     :class:`~pyro.distributions.torch_distribution.TorchDistributionMixin`.
+
     """.format(
         _Dist.__module__, _Dist.__name__
     )
-
+    _PyroDist.__doc__ = _cat_docstrings(_PyroDist.__doc__, _Dist.__doc__)
     __all__.append(_name)