diff --git a/doc/manual/meson.build b/doc/manual/meson.build
index 1bdbba77e..f53d41b5d 100644
--- a/doc/manual/meson.build
+++ b/doc/manual/meson.build
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ conf_file_json = custom_target(
   capture : true,
   output : 'conf-file.json',
   env : nix_env_for_docs,
+  # FIXME: put the actual lib targets in here? meson have introspection challenge 2024 though.
+  build_always_stale : true,
 )
 
 nix_conf_file_md_body = custom_target(
@@ -50,6 +52,8 @@ nix_exp_features_json = custom_target(
   command : [ nix, '__dump-xp-features' ],
   capture : true,
   output : 'xp-features.json',
+  # FIXME: put the actual lib targets in here? meson have introspection challenge 2024 though.
+  build_always_stale : true,
 )
 
 language_json = custom_target(
@@ -57,6 +61,8 @@ language_json = custom_target(
   output : 'language.json',
   capture : true,
   env : nix_env_for_docs,
+  # FIXME: put the actual lib targets in here? meson have introspection challenge 2024 though.
+  build_always_stale : true,
 )
 
 nix3_cli_json = custom_target(
@@ -64,6 +70,8 @@ nix3_cli_json = custom_target(
   capture : true,
   output : 'nix.json',
   env : nix_env_for_docs,
+  # FIXME: put the actual lib targets in here? meson have introspection challenge 2024 though.
+  build_always_stale : true,
 )
 
 generate_manual_deps = files(
diff --git a/doc/manual/src/command-ref/meson.build b/doc/manual/src/command-ref/meson.build
index ef6f9d2e0..f66ee0d39 100644
--- a/doc/manual/src/command-ref/meson.build
+++ b/doc/manual/src/command-ref/meson.build
@@ -1,9 +1,3 @@
-xp_features_json = custom_target(
-  command : [nix, '__dump-xp-features'],
-  capture : true,
-  output : 'xp-features.json',
-)
-
 experimental_features_shortlist_md = custom_target(
   command : nix_eval_for_docs + [
     '--expr',
@@ -11,7 +5,7 @@ experimental_features_shortlist_md = custom_target(
   ],
   input : [
     '../../generate-features-shortlist.nix',
-    xp_features_json,
+    nix_exp_features_json,
   ],
   capture : true,
   output : 'experimental-features-shortlist.md',
diff --git a/doc/manual/src/contributing/meson.build b/doc/manual/src/contributing/meson.build
index 8c76a6206..da88ca146 100644
--- a/doc/manual/src/contributing/meson.build
+++ b/doc/manual/src/contributing/meson.build
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ experimental_feature_descriptions_md = custom_target(
   ],
   input : [
     '../../generate-features.nix',
-    xp_features_json,
+    nix_exp_features_json,
   ],
   capture : true,
   output : 'experimental-feature-descriptions.md',