diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-and-deploy.yml b/.github/workflows/build-and-deploy.yml
index 22990f0bf..c36eaa4b7 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-and-deploy.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-and-deploy.yml
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ jobs:
 
     - name: Build
       run: |
-        nix-build --arg withManuals true
+        nix-build --arg withManuals true --arg withPDF true
 
         # The netlify action doesn't follow symlinks properly.
         mkdir ./dist
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index a6fcd7428..5054f9b75 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -44,6 +44,21 @@ Or for interactive development:
 $ nix-shell --arg withManuals true --run devmode
 ```
 
+## Building the PDF
+
+By default, nix.dev is built without the PDF rendering, as that takes too long for quick iteration on the contents.
+To enable building the PDF:
+
+```shell-session
+$ nix-build -A build --arg withPDF true
+```
+
+Or for interactive development:
+
+```shell-session
+$ nix-shell --arg withPDF true --run devmode
+```
+
 ## Updating reference manuals
 
 With the current setup, the [Nix manual hosted on nix.dev](https://nix.dev/reference/nix-manual) does not get updated automatically with new releases.
diff --git a/default.nix b/default.nix
index ce2ed7994..0054582c0 100644
--- a/default.nix
+++ b/default.nix
@@ -7,7 +7,8 @@
     inherit system;
   },
   withManuals ? false, # building the manuals is expensive
-  inNixShell ? false # Provided by direnv-nix; Ignored for now.
+  inNixShell ? false, # Provided by direnv-nix; Ignored for now.
+  withPDF ? false, # building the PDF is expensive
 }:
 let
   lib = pkgs.lib;
@@ -54,7 +55,7 @@ let
       ''
         cp -f ${substitutedNixManualReference} source/reference/nix-manual.md
         make html
-        make latexpdf
+        ${lib.optionalString withPDF "make latexpdf"}
       '';
     installPhase =
       let
@@ -81,7 +82,7 @@ let
       ''
         mkdir -p $out/manual/nix
         cp -R build/html/* $out/
-        cp build/latex/nix-dev.pdf $out/
+        ${lib.optionalString withPDF "cp build/latex/nix-dev.pdf $out/"}
         cp netlify.toml $out/
       ''
       + lib.optionalString withManuals ''
@@ -96,7 +97,7 @@ let
     in
 
     pkgs.devmode.override {
-      buildArgs = "-A build --show-trace --arg withManuals ${boolean withManuals}";
+      buildArgs = "-A build --show-trace --arg withManuals ${boolean withManuals} --arg withPDF ${boolean withPDF}";
       open = "/index.html";
     };
   update-nix-releases = pkgs.callPackage ./nix/update-nix-releases.nix { };
diff --git a/source/_templates/download-links.html b/source/_templates/download-links.html
index e8f217923..ac74c4afe 100644
--- a/source/_templates/download-links.html
+++ b/source/_templates/download-links.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
-<p>nix.dev as <a href="/nix-dev.pdf">PDF</a></p>
+<p><a href="/nix-dev.pdf">nix.dev as PDF</a></p>