diff --git a/python/hail/docs/conf.py b/python/hail/docs/conf.py
index f9e26f48f1dd..b19887a49955 100644
--- a/python/hail/docs/conf.py
+++ b/python/hail/docs/conf.py
@@ -40,7 +40,8 @@
     'sphinx.ext.mathjax',
     'sphinx.ext.viewcode',
     'sphinx.ext.autosummary',
-    'nbsphinx'
+    'nbsphinx',
+    'IPython.sphinxext.ipython_console_highlighting' # https://github.com/spatialaudio/nbsphinx/issues/24#issuecomment-187172022 and https://github.com/ContinuumIO/anaconda-issues/issues/1430
 ]
 
 nbsphinx_timeout = 300