diff --git a/docs/conf.py b/docs/conf.py
index 8d2854c18..e60400f0b 100644
--- a/docs/conf.py
+++ b/docs/conf.py
@@ -118,6 +118,11 @@
     "announcement": "https://napari.org/dev/_static/announcement.html",
 }
 
+html_context = {
+   # use Light theme only, don't auto switch (default)
+   "default_mode": "light"
+}
+
 # Add any paths that contain custom static files (such as style sheets) here,
 # relative to this directory. They are copied after the builtin static files,
 # so a file named "default.css" will overwrite the builtin "default.css".