diff --git a/.readthedocs.yml b/.readthedocs.yml
index 3f466e74..9590613c 100644
--- a/.readthedocs.yml
+++ b/.readthedocs.yml
@@ -4,10 +4,9 @@ build:
   os: "ubuntu-22.04"
   tools:
     python: "mambaforge-22.9"
-  jobs:
-    pre_install:
-      - bash ci/build_docs_pre_install.sh
 
+# PIP_NO_DEPS="True" is set in the readthedocs build environment.
+# ref: https://docs.readthedocs.io/en/stable/guides/environment-variables.html
 python:
   install:
     - method: pip
diff --git a/ci/build_docs_pre_install.sh b/ci/build_docs_pre_install.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 83f1187b..00000000
--- a/ci/build_docs_pre_install.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,23 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-# Copyright (c) 2024 NVIDIA CORPORATION.
-#
-# [description]
-#
-#   ucx-py's docs builds require installing the library.
-#
-#   It does that by running 'pip install .' from the root of the repo. This script
-#   is used to modify readthedocs' local checkout of this project's source code prior
-#   to that 'pip install' being run.
-#
-#   For more, see https://docs.readthedocs.io/en/stable/build-customization.html
-#
-#   NOTE: This can go away if/when this project is cut over to rapids-build-backend.
-#         See https://github.com/rapidsai/build-planning/issues/31
-#
-
-set -euo pipefail
-
-# just remove libucx dependency from pyproject.toml... it's not necessary for docs builds,
-# and it's unsuffixed (e.g. no `-cu12`) in source control
-cat ./pyproject.toml | grep -v '"libucx' > pyproject.bak
-mv ./pyproject.bak ./pyproject.toml