diff --git a/pkgs/applications/science/math/sage/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/science/math/sage/default.nix
index 70e24e2608d..84b511de8fc 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/science/math/sage/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/science/math/sage/default.nix
@@ -48,6 +48,12 @@ let
     logo64 = "${sage-src}/src/doc/common/themes/sage/static/sageicon.png";
   };
 
+  jupyter-kernel-specs = pkgs.jupyter-kernel.create {
+    definitions = pkgs.jupyter-kernel.default // {
+      sagemath = jupyter-kernel-definition;
+    };
+  };
+
   three = callPackage ./threejs-sage.nix { };
 
   # A bash script setting various environment variables to tell sage where
@@ -73,7 +79,7 @@ let
   # The documentation for sage, building it takes a lot of ram.
   sagedoc = callPackage ./sagedoc.nix {
     inherit sage-with-env;
-    inherit python3 maxima;
+    inherit python3 maxima jupyter-kernel-specs;
   };
 
   # sagelib with added wrappers and a dependency on sage-tests to make sure thet tests were run.
@@ -167,6 +173,6 @@ let
 in
 # A wrapper around sage that makes sure sage finds its docs (if they were build).
 callPackage ./sage.nix {
-  inherit sage-tests sage-with-env sagedoc jupyter-kernel-definition;
+  inherit sage-tests sage-with-env sagedoc jupyter-kernel-specs;
   inherit withDoc requireSageTests;
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/science/math/sage/python-modules/sage-docbuild.nix b/pkgs/applications/science/math/sage/python-modules/sage-docbuild.nix
index 1766cec3e35..b0f40bf0658 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/science/math/sage/python-modules/sage-docbuild.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/science/math/sage/python-modules/sage-docbuild.nix
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 , buildPythonPackage
 , sage-src
 , sphinx
+, jupyter-sphinx
 }:
 
 buildPythonPackage rec {
@@ -11,6 +12,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
 
   propagatedBuildInputs = [
     sphinx
+    jupyter-sphinx
   ];
 
   preBuild = ''
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/science/math/sage/sage.nix b/pkgs/applications/science/math/sage/sage.nix
index 96122fba5ab..78fd8d598d0 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/science/math/sage/sage.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/science/math/sage/sage.nix
@@ -2,8 +2,7 @@
 , makeWrapper
 , sage-tests
 , sage-with-env
-, jupyter-kernel-definition
-, jupyter-kernel
+, jupyter-kernel-specs
 , sagedoc
 , withDoc
 , requireSageTests
@@ -12,14 +11,6 @@
 # A wrapper that makes sure sage finds its docs (if they were build) and the
 # jupyter kernel spec.
 
-let
-  # generate kernel spec + default kernels
-  kernel-specs = jupyter-kernel.create {
-    definitions = jupyter-kernel.default // {
-      sagemath = jupyter-kernel-definition;
-    };
-  };
-in
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   version = src.version;
   pname = "sage";
@@ -43,7 +34,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
       --set SAGE_DOC_SRC_OVERRIDE "${src}/src/doc" ${
         lib.optionalString withDoc "--set SAGE_DOC_OVERRIDE ${sagedoc}/share/doc/sage"
       } \
-      --prefix JUPYTER_PATH : "${kernel-specs}"
+      --prefix JUPYTER_PATH : "${jupyter-kernel-specs}"
   '';
 
   doInstallCheck = withDoc;
@@ -58,7 +49,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     quicktest = sage-tests.override { longTests = false; timeLimit = 600; }; # as many tests as possible in ~10m
     doc = sagedoc;
     lib = sage-with-env.env.lib;
-    kernelspec = jupyter-kernel-definition;
+    kernelspec = jupyter-kernel-specs.definition.sagemath;
   };
 
   meta = with lib; {
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/science/math/sage/sagedoc.nix b/pkgs/applications/science/math/sage/sagedoc.nix
index 489fc2edfe5..55674719064 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/science/math/sage/sagedoc.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/science/math/sage/sagedoc.nix
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 { stdenv
 , sage-with-env
 , python3
+, jupyter-kernel-specs
 , maxima
 , tachyon
 , jmol
@@ -59,10 +60,15 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     OUTPUT="$OUTPUT_DIR/options.txt"
     ${sage-with-env}/bin/sage -advanced > "$OUTPUT"
 
-    ${sage-with-env}/bin/sage --docbuild \
+    # jupyter-sphinx calls the sagemath jupyter kernel during docbuild
+    export JUPYTER_PATH=${jupyter-kernel-specs}
+
+    # sage --docbuild unsets JUPYTER_PATH, so we call sage_docbuild directly
+    # https://trac.sagemath.org/ticket/33650#comment:32
+    ${sage-with-env}/bin/sage --python3 -m sage_docbuild \
       --mathjax \
       --no-pdf-links \
-      all html
+      all html < /dev/null
   '';
 
   installPhase = ''