diff --git a/.github/workflows/monodocs_build.yml b/.github/workflows/monodocs_build.yml
index 7460e7bcf..5c4907e22 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/monodocs_build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/monodocs_build.yml
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ jobs:
         shell: bash -el {0}
         env:
           FLYTESNACKS_LOCAL_PATH: ${{ github.workspace }}/flytesnacks
+          DOCSEARCH_API_KEY: fake_docsearch_api_key  # must be set to get doc build to succeed
         run: |
           conda activate monodocs-env
           make -C docs html SPHINXOPTS="-W"