diff --git a/test-requirements.txt b/test-requirements.txt
index 151584e11c..4e649c872e 100644
--- a/test-requirements.txt
+++ b/test-requirements.txt
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ os-api-ref>=1.0.0 # Apache-2.0
 os-testr>=0.8.0 # Apache-2.0
 python-subunit>=0.0.18 # Apache-2.0/BSD
 pytz>=2013.6 # MIT
-sphinx>=1.5.1 # BSD
+sphinx!=1.6.1,>=1.5.1 # BSD
 tempest>=14.0.0 # Apache-2.0
 testrepository>=0.0.18 # Apache-2.0/BSD
 testscenarios>=0.4 # Apache-2.0/BSD