diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-docs.yml b/.github/workflows/build-docs.yml
index bef2a7e84c0..1ea09039d7d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-docs.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-docs.yml
@@ -237,6 +237,10 @@ jobs:
             ./build_all_docs.sh
             # At release time, we don't want to update the latest docs
             rm -rf build/html/latest
+            # Nor the shared version-switcher file at the docs root: the theme
+            # fetches it from one URL for every version, and main deploys own it.
+            # A release built from a branch would overwrite it with a stale list.
+            rm -f build/html/nv-versions.json build/html/versions.json
           fi
           ls -l build
           popd
@@ -253,6 +257,10 @@ jobs:
             ./build_docs.sh
             # At release time, we don't want to update the latest docs
             rm -rf build/html/latest
+            # Nor the shared version-switcher file at the docs root: the theme
+            # fetches it from one URL for every version, and main deploys own it.
+            # A release built from a branch would overwrite it with a stale list.
+            rm -f build/html/nv-versions.json build/html/versions.json
           fi
           ls -l build
           popd