diff --git a/docs-requirements.txt b/docs-requirements.txt
index e98a0d35dfb..a3168862770 100644
--- a/docs-requirements.txt
+++ b/docs-requirements.txt
@@ -2,6 +2,11 @@ sphinx~=2.4
 sphinx-rtd-theme~=0.4
 sphinx-autodoc-typehints~=1.10.2
 
+# Need to install the api/sdk in the venv for autodoc. Modifying sys.path
+# doesn't work for pkg_resources.
+./opentelemetry-api
+./opentelemetry-sdk
+
 # Required by ext packages
 asgiref~=3.0
 asyncpg>=0.12.0
diff --git a/docs/conf.py b/docs/conf.py
index d15d8b2ed5b..68b871aaac2 100644
--- a/docs/conf.py
+++ b/docs/conf.py
@@ -25,8 +25,6 @@
 
 
 source_dirs = [
-    os.path.abspath("../opentelemetry-api/src/"),
-    os.path.abspath("../opentelemetry-sdk/src/"),
     os.path.abspath("../opentelemetry-instrumentation/src/"),
 ]