diff -Nur kitty-0.25.0/setup.py new/setup.py
--- kitty-0.25.0/setup.py	2022-04-11 16:01:45.000000000 +0200
+++ new/setup.py	2022-04-18 14:03:18.715999089 +0200
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@
     verbose: int = 0
     sanitize: bool = False
     prefix: str = './linux-package'
+    no_docs: bool = False
     incremental: bool = True
     profile: bool = False
     libdir_name: str = 'lib'
@@ -949,12 +950,13 @@
         c(base_path, ddir='', rx=exclude, force=True, optimize=optimize, quiet=1, workers=num_workers)
 
 
-def create_linux_bundle_gunk(ddir: str, libdir_name: str) -> None:
-    if not os.path.exists('docs/_build/html'):
-        make = 'gmake' if is_freebsd else 'make'
-        run_tool([make, 'docs'])
-    copy_man_pages(ddir)
-    copy_html_docs(ddir)
+def create_linux_bundle_gunk(ddir: str, libdir_name: str, no_docs=False) -> None:
+    if not no_docs:
+        if not os.path.exists('docs/_build/html'):
+            make = 'gmake' if is_freebsd else 'make'
+            run_tool([make, 'docs'])
+        copy_man_pages(ddir)
+        copy_html_docs(ddir)
     for (icdir, ext) in {'256x256': 'png', 'scalable': 'svg'}.items():
         icdir = os.path.join(ddir, 'share', 'icons', 'hicolor', icdir, 'apps')
         safe_makedirs(icdir)
@@ -1313,7 +1315,7 @@
             path = os.path.join(root, f_)
             os.chmod(path, 0o755 if f_.endswith('.so') or os.path.basename(f_) == 'askpass.py' else 0o644)
     if not is_macos:
-        create_linux_bundle_gunk(ddir, args.libdir_name)
+        create_linux_bundle_gunk(ddir, args.libdir_name, args.no_docs)
 
     if bundle_type.startswith('macos-'):
         create_macos_bundle_gunk(ddir)
@@ -1397,6 +1399,12 @@
         help='Where to create the linux package'
     )
     p.add_argument(
+        '--no-docs',
+        default=Options.no_docs,
+        action='store_true',
+        help='Disable building documentation when creating the linux package'
+    )
+    p.add_argument(
         '--full',
         dest='incremental',
         default=Options.incremental,