diff --git a/nfd/debian/patches/downgrade-sphinx.patch b/nfd/debian/patches/downgrade-sphinx.patch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..117adbb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nfd/debian/patches/downgrade-sphinx.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+Index: nfd_22.12/docs/conf.py
+===================================================================
+--- nfd_22.12.orig/docs/conf.py
++++ nfd_22.12/docs/conf.py
+@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ today_fmt = '%Y-%m-%d'
+ # -- General configuration ---------------------------------------------------
+ # https://www.sphinx-doc.org/en/master/usage/configuration.html#general-configuration
+ 
+-needs_sphinx = '4.0'
++needs_sphinx = '1.3'
+ extensions = [
+     'sphinx.ext.extlinks',
+     'sphinx.ext.todo',
+@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ exclude_patterns = ['Thumbs.db', '.DS_St
+ 
+ html_theme = 'named_data_theme'
+ html_theme_path = ['.']
++master_doc = 'index'
+ 
+ # 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,