diff --git a/src/pydata_sphinx_theme/assets/scripts/pydata-sphinx-theme.js b/src/pydata_sphinx_theme/assets/scripts/pydata-sphinx-theme.js
index b0e65ab1dc..72a7022dab 100644
--- a/src/pydata_sphinx_theme/assets/scripts/pydata-sphinx-theme.js
+++ b/src/pydata_sphinx_theme/assets/scripts/pydata-sphinx-theme.js
@@ -347,6 +347,10 @@ async function fetchVersionSwitcherJSON(url) {
     var result = new URL(url);
   } catch (err) {
     if (err instanceof TypeError) {
+      if (window.location.protocol == "file:") {
+        // TODO: Fix this to return the version switcher on static builds
+        return null;
+      }
       // assume we got a relative path, and fix accordingly. But first, we need to
       // use `fetch()` to follow redirects so we get the correct final base URL
       const origin = await fetch(window.location.origin, { method: "HEAD" });
@@ -556,9 +560,11 @@ if (hasVersionsJSON && (hasSwitcherMenu || wantsWarningBanner)) {
   const data = await fetchVersionSwitcherJSON(
     DOCUMENTATION_OPTIONS.theme_switcher_json_url
   );
-  populateVersionSwitcher(data, versionSwitcherBtns);
-  if (wantsWarningBanner) {
-    showVersionWarningBanner(data);
+  if (data) {
+    populateVersionSwitcher(data, versionSwitcherBtns);
+    if (wantsWarningBanner) {
+      showVersionWarningBanner(data);
+    }
   }
 }