diff --git a/docs/rtd/requirements.txt b/docs/rtd/requirements.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..44af373ac2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/rtd/requirements.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+# requirements file for readthedocs pip installs
+
+# use md instead of rst
+recommonmark