diff --git a/docs/Makefile b/docs/Makefile
index 550d4e79..6effe539 100644
--- a/docs/Makefile
+++ b/docs/Makefile
@@ -14,6 +14,12 @@ OSMO_REPOSITORY = "pysim"
 UPLOAD_FILES = $(BUILDDIR)/latex/osmopysim-usermanual.pdf
 CLEAN_FILES = $(UPLOAD_FILES)
 
+# Copy variables from Makefile.common.inc that are used in publish-html,
+# as Makefile.common.inc must be included after publish-html
+PUBLISH_REF   ?= master
+PUBLISH_TEMPDIR = _publish_tmpdir
+SSH_COMMAND = ssh -o 'UserKnownHostsFile=$(OSMO_GSM_MANUALS_DIR)/build/known_hosts' -p 48
+
 # Put it first so that "make" without argument is like "make help".
 .PHONY: help
 help:
@@ -23,7 +29,16 @@ $(BUILDDIR)/latex/pysim.pdf: latexpdf
 	@/bin/true
 
 publish-html: html
-	rsync -avz -e "ssh -o 'UserKnownHostsFile=$(OSMO_GSM_MANUALS_DIR)/build/known_hosts' -p 48" $(BUILDDIR)/html/ docs@ftp.osmocom.org:web-files/latest/pysim/
+	rm -rf "$(PUBLISH_TEMPDIR)"
+	mkdir -p "$(PUBLISH_TEMPDIR)/pysim/$(PUBLISH_REF)"
+	cp -r "$(BUILDDIR)"/html "$(PUBLISH_TEMPDIR)/pysim/$(PUBLISH_REF)"
+	cd "$(PUBLISH_TEMPDIR)" && \
+		rsync \
+			-avzR \
+			-e "$(SSH_COMMAND)" \
+			"pysim" \
+			docs@ftp.osmocom.org:web-files/
+	rm -rf "$(PUBLISH_TEMPDIR)"
 
 # put this before the catch-all below
 include $(OSMO_GSM_MANUALS_DIR)/build/Makefile.common.inc