diff --git a/readthedocs.yaml b/readthedocs.yaml
index 4fabe290c..e93b850b0 100644
--- a/readthedocs.yaml
+++ b/readthedocs.yaml
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ build:
   jobs:
     # remove and mock problematic dependencies
     pre_install:
-      - sed -i '/gpg/d;/notmuch2/d' pyproject.toml
+      - sed -i -e /gpg/d -e /notmuch2/d pyproject.toml
       - touch gpg.py
       - echo NullPointerError = NotmuchError = None > notmuch2.py
     # make the git state clean again for setuptools_scm