diff --git a/doc/lisp/build-doc-config.el b/doc/lisp/build-doc-config.el
index e302caf7b0afd5f4247d3971e890479dfb893e5b..9e2cc8d690c63c229a49e2292a048b335a809f94 100644
--- a/doc/lisp/build-doc-config.el
+++ b/doc/lisp/build-doc-config.el
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 (setq max-specpdl-size 10000)
 
 (require 'package)
+(package-initialize)
 (setq package-enable-at-startup nil)
 
 (add-to-list 'package-archives