diff --git a/.readthedocs.yml b/.readthedocs.yml
index 4b04e1fb..4192147e 100644
--- a/.readthedocs.yml
+++ b/.readthedocs.yml
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ build:
     pre_build:
       - sphinx-apidoc -o docs/apidoc --private --module-first xscen
       - env SKIP_NOTEBOOKS=1 sphinx-build -b linkcheck docs/ _build/linkcheck
+#    post_build:
+#      - rm -rf docs/notebooks/_data
 
 conda:
   environment: environment-dev.yml
diff --git a/docs/conf.py b/docs/conf.py
index dcee2304..d6ad8631 100755
--- a/docs/conf.py
+++ b/docs/conf.py
@@ -79,11 +79,11 @@
 if skip_notebooks:
     warnings.warn("SKIP_NOTEBOOKS is set. Not executing notebooks.")
     nbsphinx_execute = "never"
-elif os.getenv("READTHEDOCS_VERSION_NAME") in ["latest", "stable"] or os.getenv(
-    "READTHEDOCS_VERSION_TYPE"
-) in ["tag"]:
-    if os.getenv("READTHEDOCS_OUTPUT") in ["pdf"]:
-        warnings.warn("Generating PDF version. Not executing notebooks.")
+elif (os.getenv("READTHEDOCS_VERSION_NAME") in ["latest", "stable"]) or (
+    os.getenv("READTHEDOCS_VERSION_TYPE") in ["tag"]
+):
+    if Path(__file__).parent.joinpath("notebooks/_data").exists():
+        warnings.warn("Notebook artefacts found. Not executing notebooks.")
         nbsphinx_execute = "never"
 
 # if skip_notebooks or os.getenv("READTHEDOCS_VERSION_TYPE") in [