diff --git a/ndn-cxx/debian/patches/downgrade-sphinx.patch b/ndn-cxx/debian/patches/downgrade-sphinx.patch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..68aba10
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ndn-cxx/debian/patches/downgrade-sphinx.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+Index: ndn-cxx_0.8.1-bp1/docs/conf.py
+===================================================================
+--- ndn-cxx_0.8.1-bp1.orig/docs/conf.py
++++ ndn-cxx_0.8.1-bp1/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',
+@@ -47,6 +47,8 @@ def addExtensionIfExists(extension: str)
+ 
+ addExtensionIfExists('sphinxcontrib.doxylink')
+ 
++master_doc = 'index'
++
+ templates_path = ['_templates']
+ exclude_patterns = ['Thumbs.db', '.DS_Store']
+ 
diff --git a/ndn-cxx/debian/patches/series b/ndn-cxx/debian/patches/series
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..661c3d7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ndn-cxx/debian/patches/series
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+downgrade-sphinx.patch