diff --git a/docs/source/conf.py b/docs/source/conf.py
index 4fb9f9acd..16ed7a669 100644
--- a/docs/source/conf.py
+++ b/docs/source/conf.py
@@ -207,7 +207,13 @@ def __call__(self, filename):
 
 # List of patterns, relative to source directory, that match files and
 # directories to ignore when looking for source files.
-exclude_patterns = ['_build', 'test.py']
+exclude_patterns = ['_build', 'test.py', "../../src/pynwb/retinotopy.py",]
+
+# List of patterns, relative to source directory, of modules to be
+# excluded by apidoc when generating rst files.
+apidoc_exclude = [
+    "../../src/pynwb/retinotopy.py",
+]
 
 # # This value contains a list of modules to be mocked up. This is useful
 # # when some external dependencies are not met at build time and break the
@@ -411,11 +417,6 @@ def __call__(self, filename):
 # see http://www.sphinx-doc.org/en/master/extdev/appapi.html
 #
 
-# paths to modules to be excluded by apidoc when generating rst files
-apidoc_exclude = [
-    "../../src/pynwb/retinotopy",
-]
-
 def run_apidoc(_):
     from sphinx.ext.apidoc import main as apidoc_main
     import os