diff --git a/.github/workflows/reusable-docs.yml b/.github/workflows/reusable-docs.yml
index 3809f24dcc977e..39a97392e898aa 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/reusable-docs.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/reusable-docs.yml
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ jobs:
     - name: 'Set up Python'
       uses: actions/setup-python@v5
       with:
-        python-version: '3.12'  # known to work with Sphinx 6.2.1
+        python-version: '3.13'  # known to work with Sphinx 7.2.6
         cache: 'pip'
         cache-dependency-path: 'Doc/requirements-oldest-sphinx.txt'
     - name: 'Install build dependencies'
diff --git a/Doc/conf.py b/Doc/conf.py
index 839beaad08bebd..db8fb9a9a68c6b 100644
--- a/Doc/conf.py
+++ b/Doc/conf.py
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@
 highlight_language = 'python3'
 
 # Minimum version of sphinx required
-needs_sphinx = '6.2.1'
+needs_sphinx = '7.2.6'
 
 # Create table of contents entries for domain objects (e.g. functions, classes,
 # attributes, etc.). Default is True.
diff --git a/Doc/requirements-oldest-sphinx.txt b/Doc/requirements-oldest-sphinx.txt
index 068fe0cb426ecd..3483faea6b56cb 100644
--- a/Doc/requirements-oldest-sphinx.txt
+++ b/Doc/requirements-oldest-sphinx.txt
@@ -7,29 +7,29 @@ blurb
 python-docs-theme>=2022.1
 
 # Generated from:
-#     pip install "Sphinx~=6.2.1"
+#     pip install "Sphinx~=7.2.6"
 #     pip freeze
 #
-# Sphinx 6.2.1 comes from ``needs_sphinx = '6.2.1'`` in ``Doc/conf.py``.
+# Sphinx 7.2.6 comes from ``needs_sphinx = '7.2.6'`` in ``Doc/conf.py``.
 
 alabaster==0.7.16
-Babel==2.15.0
-certifi==2024.7.4
-charset-normalizer==3.3.2
-docutils==0.19
-idna==3.7
+Babel==2.16.0
+certifi==2024.8.30
+charset-normalizer==3.4.0
+docutils==0.20.1
+idna==3.10
 imagesize==1.4.1
 Jinja2==3.1.4
-MarkupSafe==2.1.5
+MarkupSafe==3.0.1
 packaging==24.1
 Pygments==2.18.0
 requests==2.32.3
 snowballstemmer==2.2.0
-Sphinx==6.2.1
-sphinxcontrib-applehelp==1.0.8
-sphinxcontrib-devhelp==1.0.6
-sphinxcontrib-htmlhelp==2.0.5
+Sphinx==7.2.6
+sphinxcontrib-applehelp==2.0.0
+sphinxcontrib-devhelp==2.0.0
+sphinxcontrib-htmlhelp==2.1.0
 sphinxcontrib-jsmath==1.0.1
-sphinxcontrib-qthelp==1.0.7
-sphinxcontrib-serializinghtml==1.1.10
-urllib3==2.2.2
+sphinxcontrib-qthelp==2.0.0
+sphinxcontrib-serializinghtml==2.0.0
+urllib3==2.2.3
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Documentation/2024-10-10-23-46-54.gh-issue-125277.QAby09.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Documentation/2024-10-10-23-46-54.gh-issue-125277.QAby09.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..fcd6e22c27b5f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Documentation/2024-10-10-23-46-54.gh-issue-125277.QAby09.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Require Sphinx 7.2.6 or later to build the Python documentation.
+Patch by Adam Turner.