diff --git a/docs/makedocs b/docs/makedocs
index 73831656a..0176eb0a2 100755
--- a/docs/makedocs
+++ b/docs/makedocs
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ makedocs ()
 # grab a clean copy of the repository 
     rm -rf docs/cache
     rm -rf cache.$$
-    hg clone .. cache.$$ > /dev/null || report_failure
+    hg archive cache.$$ || report_failure
 # put the stuff we need into the docs/cache folder
     mkdir docs/cache
     mv cache.$$/dlib docs/cache/