diff --git a/tests/test_builders/test_build_manpage.py b/tests/test_builders/test_build_manpage.py
index 0958b30f302..31d75d64d59 100644
--- a/tests/test_builders/test_build_manpage.py
+++ b/tests/test_builders/test_build_manpage.py
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@
 from sphinx.config import Config
 
 
+@pytest.mark.xfail(docutils.__version_info__[:2] > (0, 21),
+                   reason='Docutils has removed the reference key in master')
 @pytest.mark.sphinx('man')
 def test_all(app, status, warning):
     app.build(force_all=True)
@@ -47,6 +49,8 @@ def test_man_make_section_directory(app, status, warning):
     assert (app.outdir / 'man1' / 'projectnamenotset.1').exists()
 
 
+@pytest.mark.xfail(docutils.__version_info__[:2] > (0, 21),
+                   reason='Docutils has removed the reference key in master')
 @pytest.mark.sphinx('man', testroot='directive-code')
 def test_captioned_code_block(app, status, warning):
     app.build(force_all=True)