diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index 57c41ed1f411..a4188cfa2903 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -88,6 +88,9 @@ commands =
 commands = {posargs}
 
 [testenv:docs]
+# TODO(melwitt): This can be removed when the docs target can be run
+# with python 3.x
+basepython = python2.7
 commands =
   rm -rf doc/source/api doc/build api-guide/build api-ref/build
   python setup.py build_sphinx