diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index ed76f7f8..a8943124 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
+notmuch (0.31.2-4) unstable; urgency=medium
+
+  * Move prerequisite to file targets from phony ones. Thanks to
+    Lucas Nussbaum for the report. (Closes: #976934).
+
+ -- David Bremner <bremner@debian.org>  Thu, 10 Dec 2020 21:02:20 -0400
+
 notmuch (0.31.2-3) unstable; urgency=medium
 
   * Switch to debhelper compat level 13
diff --git a/debian/patches/debian-changes b/debian/patches/debian-changes
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..40ee7d00
--- /dev/null
+++ b/debian/patches/debian-changes
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+This is an autogenerated patch header for a single-debian-patch file. The
+delta against upstream is either kept as a single patch, or maintained
+in some VCS, and exported as a single patch instead of more manageable
+atomic patches.
+
+--- notmuch-0.31.2.orig/doc/Makefile.local
++++ notmuch-0.31.2/doc/Makefile.local
+@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ INFO_INFO_FILES := $(INFO_TEXI_FILES:.te
+ 	rm -f $@ && gzip --no-name --stdout $^ > $@
+ 
+ ifeq ($(WITH_EMACS),1)
+-$(DOCBUILDDIR)/.roff.stamp sphinx-html sphinx-texinfo: docstring.stamp
++$(DOCBUILDDIR)/.roff.stamp $(DOCBUILDDIR)/.html.stamp $(DOCBUILDDIR)/.texi.stamp : docstring.stamp
+ endif
+ 
+ sphinx-html: $(DOCBUILDDIR)/.html.stamp
diff --git a/debian/patches/series b/debian/patches/series
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7bb82529
--- /dev/null
+++ b/debian/patches/series
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+debian-changes
diff --git a/doc/Makefile.local b/doc/Makefile.local
index 60bd7184..f476d1da 100644
--- a/doc/Makefile.local
+++ b/doc/Makefile.local
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ INFO_INFO_FILES := $(INFO_TEXI_FILES:.texi=.info)
 	rm -f $@ && gzip --no-name --stdout $^ > $@
 
 ifeq ($(WITH_EMACS),1)
-$(DOCBUILDDIR)/.roff.stamp sphinx-html sphinx-texinfo: docstring.stamp
+$(DOCBUILDDIR)/.roff.stamp $(DOCBUILDDIR)/.html.stamp $(DOCBUILDDIR)/.texi.stamp : docstring.stamp
 endif
 
 sphinx-html: $(DOCBUILDDIR)/.html.stamp