diff --git a/.circleci/config.yml b/.circleci/config.yml
index dbed7e4..302c8e0 100644
--- a/.circleci/config.yml
+++ b/.circleci/config.yml
@@ -358,7 +358,7 @@ jobs:
           subcommand: docdep
       - run:
           command: |
-            git config --global user.email "me@cschwarz.com"
+            git config --global user.email "zreplbot@cschwarz.com"
             git config --global user.name "zrepl-github-io-ci"
 
       # https://circleci.com/docs/2.0/add-ssh-key/#adding-multiple-keys-with-blank-hostnames
diff --git a/docs/publish.sh b/docs/publish.sh
index 83d61d3..04e6932 100755
--- a/docs/publish.sh
+++ b/docs/publish.sh
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 #!/bin/bash
-set -eo pipefail
-
+set -euo pipefail
 
 NON_INTERACTIVE=false
 DO_CLONE=false
@@ -13,7 +12,7 @@ while getopts "ca" arg; do
             DO_CLONE=true
             ;;
         *)
-            echo invalid option
+            echo "invalid option '-$arg'"
             exit 1
             ;;
     esac
@@ -27,11 +26,6 @@ checkout_repo_msg() {
     echo "clone ${GHPAGESREPO} to ${PUBLICDIR}:"
 }
 
-exit_msg() {
-    echo "error, exiting..."
-}
-trap exit_msg EXIT
-
 if ! type sphinx-versioning >/dev/null; then
     echo "install sphinx-versioning and come back"
     exit 1
@@ -71,6 +65,9 @@ git reset --hard origin/master
 
 echo "cleaning GitHub pages repo"
 git rm -rf .
+cat > .gitignore <<EOF
+**/.doctrees
+EOF
 
 popd
 
@@ -96,7 +93,13 @@ COMMIT_MSG="sphinx-versioning render from publish.sh - $(date -u) - ${CURRENT_CO
 pushd "$PUBLICDIR"
 
 echo "adding and commiting all changes in GitHub pages repo"
+git add .gitignore
 git add -A
-git commit -m "$COMMIT_MSG"
+if [ "$(git status --porcelain)" != "" ]; then
+    git commit -m "$COMMIT_MSG"
+else
+    echo "nothing to commit"
+fi
+echo "pushing to GitHub pages repo"
 git push origin master