diff --git a/.readthedocs.yaml b/.readthedocs.yaml
index f372a3fb8cc..c1029af6943 100644
--- a/.readthedocs.yaml
+++ b/.readthedocs.yaml
@@ -9,6 +9,44 @@ build:
     python: "3.12"
   jobs:
     post_checkout:
+      - |
+        if [ "$READTHEDOCS_VERSION_TYPE" = "external" ]; then
+          MAX_WAIT=300
+          INTERVAL=60
+          ELAPSED=0
+          while :; do
+            RAW=$(curl -sS -w "\n%{http_code}" "https://api.github.com/repos/vllm-project/vllm/commits/${READTHEDOCS_GIT_COMMIT_HASH}/check-runs?check_name=pre-run-check&filter=latest")
+            HTTP_CODE=$(printf %s "$RAW" | tail -n1)
+            BODY=$(printf %s "$RAW" | head -n -1)
+            if [ "$HTTP_CODE" != "200" ]; then
+              echo "GitHub API returned HTTP $HTTP_CODE (likely rate-limited); skipping pre-run-check gate."
+              break
+            fi
+            STATUS=$(printf %s "$BODY" | python3 -c "import sys, json; r=json.load(sys.stdin).get(\"check_runs\",[]); print((r[0].get(\"status\") or \"\") if r else \"none\")")
+            CONCLUSION=$(printf %s "$BODY" | python3 -c "import sys, json; r=json.load(sys.stdin).get(\"check_runs\",[]); print((r[0].get(\"conclusion\") or \"\") if r else \"\")")
+            if [ "$STATUS" = "none" ]; then
+              echo "no pre-run-check found for this commit; skipping gate."
+              break
+            fi
+            if [ -n "$CONCLUSION" ]; then
+              echo "pre-run-check conclusion: $CONCLUSION"
+              if [ "$CONCLUSION" = "failure" ] || [ "$CONCLUSION" = "cancelled" ] || [ "$CONCLUSION" = "timed_out" ]; then
+                echo "pre-run-check did not pass; failing docs build."
+                exit 1
+              fi
+              break
+            fi
+            if [ "$ELAPSED" -ge "$MAX_WAIT" ]; then
+              echo "pre-run-check status=$STATUS after ${MAX_WAIT}s; skipping gate."
+              break
+            fi
+            echo "pre-run-check status=$STATUS; waiting ${INTERVAL}s..."
+            sleep "$INTERVAL"
+            ELAPSED=$((ELAPSED + INTERVAL))
+          done
+        else
+          echo "Not a PR build (version type=$READTHEDOCS_VERSION_TYPE); skipping pre-run-check gate."
+        fi
       - git fetch origin main --unshallow --no-tags --filter=blob:none || true
     pre_create_environment:
       - pip install uv