diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index 02ed46631fb7..cdfd48dd12de 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ usedevelop = True
 # tox is silly... these need to be separated by a newline....
 whitelist_externals = bash
                       find
+                      rm
 install_command = pip install -U --force-reinstall {opts} {packages}
 setenv = VIRTUAL_ENV={envdir}
          OS_TEST_PATH=./nova/tests/unit
@@ -155,6 +156,7 @@ commands = {posargs}
 
 [testenv:docs]
 commands =
+  rm -rf doc/source/api doc/build
   python setup.py build_sphinx
   bash -c '! find doc/ -type f -name *.json | xargs -t -n1 python -m json.tool 2>&1 > /dev/null | grep -B1 -v ^python'
   oslo-config-generator --config-file=etc/nova/nova-config-generator.conf