diff --git a/src/pydata_sphinx_theme/__init__.py b/src/pydata_sphinx_theme/__init__.py
index 2473d4c18..981c889bb 100644
--- a/src/pydata_sphinx_theme/__init__.py
+++ b/src/pydata_sphinx_theme/__init__.py
@@ -233,15 +233,20 @@ def _remove_empty_templates(tname):
                 return True
 
             context[section] = list(filter(_remove_empty_templates, context[section]))
-
+    #
     # Remove a duplicate entry of the theme CSS. This is because it is in both:
     # - theme.conf
     # - manually linked in `webpack-macros.html`
     if "css_files" in context:
         theme_css_name = "_static/styles/pydata-sphinx-theme.css"
-        if theme_css_name in context["css_files"]:
-            context["css_files"].remove(theme_css_name)
-
+        for i in range(len(context["css_files"])):
+            asset = context["css_files"][i]
+            # TODO: eventually the contents of context['css_files'] etc should probably
+            #       only be _CascadingStyleSheet etc. For now, assume mixed with strings.
+            asset_path = getattr(asset, "filename", str(asset))
+            if asset_path == theme_css_name:
+                del context["css_files"][i]
+                break
     # Add links for favicons in the topbar
     for favicon in context.get("theme_favicons", []):
         icon_type = Path(favicon["href"]).suffix.strip(".")